CVE-2026-73194: 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
Robert Rothenberg 15 Aug 2026 12:11 UTC
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CVE-2026-73194 CPAN Security Group
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CVE ID: CVE-2026-73194
Distribution: DBI
Versions: before 1.652
MetaCPAN: https://metacpan.org/dist/DBI
VCS Repo: https://github.com/perl5-dbi/dbi
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
Description
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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.
Problem types
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- CWE-1284 Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input
- CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write
Workarounds
-----------
For deployments that cannot be upgraded, limit SQL statements to 99,999
placeholders.
Solutions
---------
Upgrade to DBI 1.652 or later.
References
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https://github.com/perl5-dbi/dbi/security/advisories/GHSA-623j-hfpc-mrc4
https://github.com/perl5-dbi/dbi/commit/29b72ae7d2a8114a734a55840bf1c45b89207809.patch
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-14739
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-10879
Credits
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Harsh Raj Singhania, finder