CVE-2026-82560 PUBLISHED

Pod::Text versions before 6.1.1 for Perl allow CPU and memory exhaustion formatting a POD document whose =over nesting drives the margin to the output width

Assigner: CPANSec
Reserved: 29.08.2026 Published: 19.09.2026 Updated: 19.09.2026

Pod::Text versions before 6.1.1 for Perl allow CPU and memory exhaustion formatting a POD document whose =over nesting drives the margin to the output width.

Each =over adds its indent to the margin, which wrap() subtracts from the output width to get the space available for text. When that space reaches zero, the line-splitting substitution matches the empty string, and the loop consumes no input while appending the margin padding on every pass.

Formatting an attacker-supplied POD document never returns, and the output grows until memory is exhausted.

Product Status

Package Collection https://cpan.org/modules
Package Name podlators
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0 to 6.1.1 (excl.)
Package Collection https://cpan.org/modules
Package Name perl
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0 to 5.45.2 (incl.)

Workarounds

Until a Perl release carries the fix, install podlators v6.1.1 or later, which takes precedence over the bundled copy.

Solutions

Upgrade to podlators v6.1.1 or later.

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-835 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') CWE