CVE-2026-8796 | Sereal::Decoder versions before 5.005 for Perl allow heap out-of-bounds read via crafted input

Sereal::Decoder versions before 5.005 for Perl allow heap out-of-bounds read via crafted input. In Perl/Decoder/srl_decoder.c, srl_read_object() and srl_read_hash() process a COPY tag, a back-reference whose target byte the decoder re-decodes as a fresh tag. When that target byte matches the SHORT_BINARY pattern (an inline string whose length is encoded in the low bits of the tag), the resulting read is not bounded to precede the COPY tag's own offset and can run past the end of the input buffer. An attacker controlled COPY offset can land inside a previously decoded value rather than on a tag boundary, planting a byte that the decoder reads as a SHORT_BINARY tag and consuming up to 31 following bytes from the heap as a class name (OBJECT path) or hash key (HASH path).

Published: 2026-05-31 Last update: 2026-06-01 Assigner: 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e Source: 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-8796 is rated Low Risk (32.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-8796

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-01 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-8796

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.2 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-8796

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-8796

GHSA-xhpj-269v-vq2q · Severity: high — Sereal::Decoder versions before 5.005 for Perl allow heap out-of-bounds read via crafted input. ...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-8796

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-8796 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libsereal-decoder-perl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 3, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-8796
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-8796 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libsereal-decoder-perl), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream): needs-triage 6, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-8796

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-8796

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-8796

cvelogic Threat Intelligence