CVE-2026-120632

CGI versions before 5.00 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via a backtracking regex on the XForms multipart/related Content-Type

Published Nov 3, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 6.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
CGI versions before 5.00 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via a backtracking regex on the XForms multipart/related Content-Type.

When a POST Content-Type contains multipart/related, the boundary and start parameters are extracted with an unanchored pattern that puts .+ on either side of the boundary capture, which backtracks in cubic time on a header that does not match. No request body is needed.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to CGI 5.00 or later.


Vendor Workaround

For deployments that cannot upgrade, reject Content-Type request headers longer than 1KB at the web server.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description CGI versions before 5.00 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via a backtracking regex on the XForms multipart/related Content-Type. When a POST Content-Type contains multipart/related, the boundary and start parameters are extracted with an unanchored pattern that puts .+ on either side of the boundary capture, which backtracks in cubic time on a header that does not match. No request body is needed.
Title CGI versions before 5.00 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via a backtracking regex on the XForms multipart/related Content-Type
Weaknesses CWE-1333
References

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Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
CPANSec
Published
Updated
Nov 9, 2026, 6:48 PM
Reserved
Nov 2, 2026, 5:39 PM
Status
Deferred
Published
Nov 4, 2026, 12:17 AM
Modified
Nov 9, 2026, 7:16 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Nov 3, 2026, 11:40 PM