CVE-2026-72888
CVE-2026-72888
Net::OAuth versions before 0.32 for Perl allow memory exhaustion via unbounded caching of failed module loads in smart_require. smart_require stores results in a process-global hash with no bound and no eviction, and keeps an entry for every class name it is asked about, including names that failed to load, because the return value of the failed eval is stored before the error is checked. The key comes off the wire on the server side: _signature_method_class builds the class name from the signature_method parameter of the incoming message, and verify resolves it before any signature is checked. A remote client chooses both how many entries are created and how long each key is. In a persistent server the hash grows for the life of the worker process until it exhausts memory. Header size limits bound the key length on the Authorization header path, but not on a POST body.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.005 (43.8th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 44th percentile — 43.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.001
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e (vendor-advisory)
- 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e (patch)
- 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e (release-notes)
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-72888?
- CVE-2026-72888 is a medium-severity vulnerability, classified under Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2026-08-16.
- How severe is CVE-2026-72888?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.