# CVE-2026-85783: Crypt::Age versions before 0.004 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via an unbounded number of recipient stanzas, each costing an X25519 scalar m


- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rvhp-9hpj-rh7c

## What is CVE-2026-85783?

CVE-2026-85783 is a vulnerability, published on 20 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

Crypt::Age versions before 0.004 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via an unbounded number of recipient stanzas, each costing an X25519 scalar multiplication in unwrap_file_key.

The header parser accepts any number of recipient stanzas, and unwrap_file_key tries every identity against every X25519 stanza. Each attempt runs a scalar multiplication, an HKDF and a ChaCha20-Poly1305 open. The header MAC cannot be checked first, because its key comes from the file key, which only a successful unwrap produces.

Each stanza is 98 bytes of attacker-chosen header and buys one scalar multiplication per identity held, and the file is rejected only after every one of them has run. A caller reaches this through decrypt, decrypt_file or decrypt_filehandle whenever it decrypts a file it did not write.

Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling), CWE-405 (Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification))

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-85783?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-85783?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-85783 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-85783 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-85783 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-85783 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-85783 is a vulnerability, published on 20 Oct 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-85783 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2026-85783/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85783/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-85783
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85783
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-85783

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85783/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.