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Vulnerability record · CVE-2023-47039 · published 2 January 2024

CVE-2023-47039: Perl heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability

Perl · Perl

A vulnerability was found in Perl. This security issue occurs while Perl for Windows relies on the system path environment variable to find the shell (`cmd.exe`). When running an executable that uses the Windows Perl interpreter, Perl attempts to find and execute `cmd.exe` within the operating system. However, due to path search order issues, Perl initially looks for cmd.exe in the current working directory. This flaw allows an attacker with limited privileges to place`cmd.exe` in locations with weak permissions, such as `C:\ProgramData`. By doing so, arbitrary code can be executed when an administrator attempts to use this executable from these compromised locations.

7.8 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 0.42% · top 65.9% CWE-122 · Heap-based buffer overflowCWE-787 · Out-of-bounds write
7.8CVSS 3.1 base score
0.42%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
8References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

A vulnerability was found in Perl. This security issue occurs while Perl for Windows relies on the system path environment variable to find the shell (`cmd.exe`). When running an executable that uses the Windows Perl interpreter, Perl attempts to find and execute `cmd.exe` within the operating system. However, due to path search order issues, Perl initially looks for cmd.exe in the current working directory. This flaw allows an attacker with limited privileges to place`cmd.exe` in locations with weak permissions, such as `C:\ProgramData`. By doing so, arbitrary code can be executed when an administrator attempts to use this executable from these compromised locations.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-47039 Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1056746 Mailing ListPatch
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2249525 Issue Tracking
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-47039 Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1056746 Mailing ListPatch
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2249525 Issue Tracking
https://perldoc.perl.org/perl5382delta#CVE-2023-47039-Perl-for-Windows-binary-hijacking-vulnerability
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240208-0005/

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Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

9.8CVE-2026-8376Perl vulnerabilityPerl versions before 5.40.5-RC1, from 5.41.0 before 5.42.3-RC1, from 5.43.0 before 5.43.11 have a heap buffer overflow when compiling regular express…EPSS 0.48%9.8CVE-2026-4176Perl vulnerabilityPerl versions from 5.9.4 before 5.40.4-RC1, from 5.41.0 before 5.42.2-RC1, from 5.43.0 before 5.43.9 contain a vulnerable version of Compress::Raw::Z…EPSS 0.81%9.8CVE-2022-48522Perl out-of-bounds write vulnerabilityIn Perl 5.34.0, function S_find_uninit_var in sv.c has a stack-based crash that can lead to remote code execution or local privilege escalation.EPSS 2.6%9.8CVE-2018-18311Perl integer overflow vulnerabilityPerl before 5.26.3 and 5.28.x before 5.28.1 has a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression that triggers invalid write operations.EPSS 12%9.8CVE-2018-18314Perl memory buffer overflow vulnerabilityPerl before 5.26.3 has a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression that triggers invalid write operations.EPSS 6.1%9.8CVE-2018-18312Perl memory buffer overflow vulnerabilityPerl before 5.26.3 and 5.28.0 before 5.28.1 has a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression that triggers invalid write operations.EPSS 13%9.8CVE-2018-6797Debian linux out-of-bounds write vulnerabilityAn issue was discovered in Perl 5.18 through 5.26. A crafted regular expression can cause a heap-based buffer overflow, with control over the bytes w…EPSS 6.5%9.8CVE-2018-6913Debian linux out-of-bounds write vulnerabilityHeap-based buffer overflow in the pack function in Perl before 5.26.2 allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code via a large item c…EPSS 11%

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2023-47039), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-10-11). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.