CVE-2026-73194

Public on 2026-08-15
Modified on 2026-08-18
Description
DBI versions before 1.652 for Perl allow a heap out-of-bounds write via an unvalidated numeric placeholder that sets the binder counter in preparse.

preparse reserves seven output bytes per input byte, the width of the longest ':p99999' expansion. The ':N' branch parses the number with `atoi(src)` and assigns it to the binder counter with no range check, so a statement containing ':2147483648' leaves the counter negative (-2147483648 with glibc, where atoi wraps). Each following '?' then expands through `sprintf(start, ":p%d", idx++)` to ':p-2147483648', 14 bytes with the terminating NUL where the buffer budgets 7. The placeholder limit added in 1.650 tests the counter against 99,999, which a negative counter passes.

Any caller that preparses an untrusted statement into ':pN' style placeholders gets a heap out-of-bounds write that grows with the number of '?' marks following the poisoned placeholder. The '?' and '%s' return styles compare the parsed number against the expected sequence and error out, and are unaffected.
Severity
Important severity
Important
See what this means
CVSS v3 Base Score
7.3
See breakdown

Affected Packages

Platform Package Release Date Advisory Status
Amazon Linux 2 - Core perl Not Affected
Amazon Linux 2023 perl Not Affected
Amazon Linux 2 - Core perl-DBI Pending Fix
Amazon Linux 2023 perl-DBI Pending Fix

CVSS Scores

Score Type Score Vector
Amazon Linux CVSSv3 7.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H