# CVE-2026-8376: Memory corruption in perl:perl

> Heap buffer overflow in Perl regex compilation on 32-bit builds allows attackers to execute code or cause denial of service via crafted regular expressions.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 May 2026
- **Updated:** 8 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-87357, CLSA-2026-1780135768, CLSA-2026-1780136761, CLSA-2026-1780136870, CLSA-2026-1780391238, CLSA-2026-1780391418, CLSA-2026-1780395563, CLSA-2026-1780397181, CLSA-2026-1780398443, CLSA-2026-1780476739, CLSA-2026-1780477837, CLSA-2026-1780487743, CLSA-2026-1780510094, CLSA-2026-1780659609, CLSA-2026-1780662823, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-8376, ECHO-e5e9-738b-90e8, GHSA-mpxq-89h3-qc47, MGASA-2026-0220, MINI-f82v-xg5f-j2r6, MINI-ffj8-6p64-mrjw, MINI-jhm4-p4rg-w6fh, MINI-vmmp-85cc-hw5f, OESA-2026-2658, ROOT-OS-ALPINE-322-CVE-2026-8376, ROOT-OS-ALPINE-323-CVE-2026-8376, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-8376, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-8376

## What is CVE-2026-8376?

CVE-2026-8376 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in perl:perl, published on 25 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Perl versions before 5.40.5-RC1, from 5.41.0 before 5.42.3-RC1, from 5.43.0 before 5.43.11 have a heap buffer overflow when compiling regular expressions with a repeated fixed string on 32-bit builds.

Perl_study_chunk in regcomp_study.c checked the size of the joined substring buffer in characters rather than bytes. For a quantified fixed substring with a large minimum count, the byte length mincount * l could overflow SSize_t, producing an undersized SvGROW allocation; the subsequent copy writes past the end of the buffer.

A caller that compiles an attacker-controlled regular expression on a 32-bit perl build triggers a heap buffer overflow at compile time.

Weakness: CWE-680 (Integer Overflow to Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-8376?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Perl Perl.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-8376?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-8376 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-8376 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in perl:perl

- [CVE-2026-4176](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-4176/): Supply chain in perl (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-48522](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48522/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-12814](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12814/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-8608](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8608/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-13221](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13221/): Integer overflow in perl:perl (critical 9.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-8376 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-8376 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in perl:perl, published on 25 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-8376 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: perl:perl. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-8376/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-8376/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-8376
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-8376
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-8376

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-8376/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.