Security Advisories (24)
CVE-2025-40909 (2025-05-30)

Perl threads have a working directory race condition where file operations may target unintended paths. If a directory handle is open at thread creation, the process-wide current working directory is temporarily changed in order to clone that handle for the new thread, which is visible from any third (or more) thread already running. This may lead to unintended operations such as loading code or accessing files from unexpected locations, which a local attacker may be able to exploit. The bug was introduced in commit 11a11ecf4bea72b17d250cfb43c897be1341861e and released in Perl version 5.13.6

CVE-2018-18314 (2018-12-07)

Perl before 5.26.3 has a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression that triggers invalid write operations.

CVE-2026-13221 (2026-07-13)

Perl versions through 5.43.9 produce silently incorrect regular expression matches when an alternation of more than 65535 fixed string branches is compiled into a trie in Perl_study_chunk. When such branches are combined into a trie, the delta between the first branch and the shared tail is stored in a 16-bit field. A branch count above 65535 overflows the field, and the trie's match decision table is truncated with no warning or error. A pattern of this shape produces false positive matches (matching strings it should not) and false negative matches (failing to match strings it should). When such a pattern gates an access or filtering decision, the result is wrong.

CVE-2016-1238 (2016-08-02)

(1) cpan/Archive-Tar/bin/ptar, (2) cpan/Archive-Tar/bin/ptardiff, (3) cpan/Archive-Tar/bin/ptargrep, (4) cpan/CPAN/scripts/cpan, (5) cpan/Digest-SHA/shasum, (6) cpan/Encode/bin/enc2xs, (7) cpan/Encode/bin/encguess, (8) cpan/Encode/bin/piconv, (9) cpan/Encode/bin/ucmlint, (10) cpan/Encode/bin/unidump, (11) cpan/ExtUtils-MakeMaker/bin/instmodsh, (12) cpan/IO-Compress/bin/zipdetails, (13) cpan/JSON-PP/bin/json_pp, (14) cpan/Test-Harness/bin/prove, (15) dist/ExtUtils-ParseXS/lib/ExtUtils/xsubpp, (16) dist/Module-CoreList/corelist, (17) ext/Pod-Html/bin/pod2html, (18) utils/c2ph.PL, (19) utils/h2ph.PL, (20) utils/h2xs.PL, (21) utils/libnetcfg.PL, (22) utils/perlbug.PL, (23) utils/perldoc.PL, (24) utils/perlivp.PL, and (25) utils/splain.PL in Perl 5.x before 5.22.3-RC2 and 5.24 before 5.24.1-RC2 do not properly remove . (period) characters from the end of the includes directory array, which might allow local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse module under the current working directory.

CVE-2013-7422 (2015-08-16)

Integer underflow in regcomp.c in Perl before 5.20, as used in Apple OS X before 10.10.5 and other products, allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via a long digit string associated with an invalid backreference within a regular expression.

CVE-2023-47039 (2023-10-30)

Perl for Windows relies on the system path environment variable to find the shell (cmd.exe). When running an executable which uses 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. An attacker with limited privileges can exploit this behavior by placing cmd.exe in locations with weak permissions, such as C:\ProgramData. By doing so, when an administrator attempts to use this executable from these compromised locations, arbitrary code can be executed.

CVE-2023-47100

In Perl before 5.38.2, S_parse_uniprop_string in regcomp.c can write to unallocated space because a property name associated with a \p{...} regular expression construct is mishandled. The earliest affected version is 5.30.0.

CVE-2026-57432 (2026-07-13)

Perl versions through 5.43.10 have an integer overflow in S_measure_struct leading to an out-of-bounds heap read in pack and unpack. S_measure_struct adds each item's size times its repeat count to a running total with no overflow check, so a large repeat count in a pack or unpack template wraps the signed SSize_t total negative. The @, X, and x position codes then guard their moves with a signed length comparison that passes when the length is negative, advancing the buffer pointer out of bounds. A template derived from untrusted input can read heap memory past the buffer and return it to the caller.

CVE-2026-8376 (2026-05-25)

Perl versions through 5.43.10 have a heap buffer overflow when compiling regular expressions with a repeated fixed string on 32-bit builds. Perl_study_chunk in regcomp_study.c checked the size of the joined substring buffer in characters rather than bytes. For a quantified fixed substring with a large minimum count, the byte length mincount * l could overflow SSize_t, producing an undersized SvGROW allocation; the subsequent copy writes past the end of the buffer. A caller that compiles an attacker-controlled regular expression on a 32-bit perl build triggers a heap buffer overflow at compile time.

CVE-2015-8853 (2016-05-25)

The (1) S_reghop3, (2) S_reghop4, and (3) S_reghopmaybe3 functions in regexec.c in Perl before 5.24.0 allow context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via crafted utf-8 data, as demonstrated by "a\x80."

CVE-2016-2381 (2016-04-08)

Perl might allow context-dependent attackers to bypass the taint protection mechanism in a child process via duplicate environment variables in envp.

CVE-2026-4176 (2026-03-29)

Perl 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::Zlib. Compress::Raw::Zlib is included in the Perl package as a dual-life core module, and is vulnerable to CVE-2026-3381 due to a vendored version of zlib which has several vulnerabilities, including CVE-2026-27171. The bundled Compress::Raw::Zlib was updated to version 2.221 in Perl blead commit c75ae9cc164205e1b6d6dbd57bd2c65c8593fe94.

CVE-2026-15534 (2026-08-09)

Perl versions through 5.45.1 have out-of-bounds heap reads and writes during regular expression matching via an undersized superlinear cache in S_regmatch. The regex engine's superlinear cache holds one bit per subject position for each participating WHILEM node, so the bit count is the subject length plus one times the number of nodes. Nothing checks that product for positive overflow of the signed 32-bit count: a 286331153 byte subject matched against a pattern with 15 participating nodes stores the count as 14, leaving a two byte cache. The cache is then indexed from the real match position and node number, so reads go past the end of the allocation, and on failure CACHEsayNO sets a bit past it. A caller that matches an attacker controlled subject of this size against a pattern of this shape can crash the process or corrupt heap memory.

CVE-2026-19487 (2026-08-13)

Perl versions from 5.9.4 before 5.41.9 produce incorrect regular expression match results when a stale failure flag ends the Aho-Corasick prescan early in S_find_byclass. The prescan walks the subject for positions where the full pattern could match, and the engine tries it from the leftmost one recorded. A failing transition sets the failed flag, and a later successful transition does not clear it, so the prescan reads the stale flag as a failure and stops before it can record a candidate that starts earlier. It takes a subject where one candidate is recorded and a later character then forces a fallback through a fail link that succeeds. Example: "ABCDE" =~ m/ABCF|BCDE|C/; # matches C at offset 2, not BCDE "ABCDE" =~ m/ABCF|BCDE|C(G)/; # no match, BCDE missed An alternation like this can miss input it should match, or match it on the wrong branch, so an access or filtering decision made from the result can be wrong.

CVE-2015-8608 (2017-02-07)

The VDir::MapPathA and VDir::MapPathW functions in Perl 5.22 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted (1) drive letter or (2) pInName argument.

CVE-2020-12723 (2020-06-05)

regcomp.c in Perl before 5.30.3 allows a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression because of recursive S_study_chunk calls.

CVE-2020-10878 (2020-06-05)

Perl before 5.30.3 has an integer overflow related to mishandling of a "PL_regkind[OP(n)] == NOTHING" situation. A crafted regular expression could lead to malformed bytecode with a possibility of instruction injection.

CVE-2020-10543 (2020-06-05)

Perl before 5.30.3 on 32-bit platforms allows a heap-based buffer overflow because nested regular expression quantifiers have an integer overflow.

CVE-2018-6797 (2018-04-17)

An 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 written.

CVE-2018-6913 (2018-04-17)

Heap-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 count.

CVE-2018-18313 (2018-12-07)

Perl before 5.26.3 has a buffer over-read via a crafted regular expression that triggers disclosure of sensitive information from process memory.

CVE-2018-18312 (2018-12-05)

Perl 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.

CVE-2018-18311 (2018-12-07)

Perl 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.

CVE-2017-12837 (2017-09-19)

Heap-based buffer overflow in the S_regatom function in regcomp.c in Perl 5 before 5.24.3-RC1 and 5.26.x before 5.26.1-RC1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write) via a regular expression with a '\\N{}' escape and the case-insensitive modifier.

NAME

Math::BigRat - Arbitrary big rational numbers

SYNOPSIS

use Math::BigRat;

my $x = Math::BigRat->new('3/7'); $x += '5/9';

print $x->bstr(),"\n";
print $x ** 2,"\n";

my $y = Math::BigRat->new('inf');
print "$y ", ($y->is_inf ? 'is' : 'is not') , " infinity\n";

my $z = Math::BigRat->new(144); $z->bsqrt();

DESCRIPTION

Math::BigRat complements Math::BigInt and Math::BigFloat by providing support for arbitrary big rational numbers.

MATH LIBRARY

You can change the underlying module that does the low-level math operations by using:

use Math::BigRat try => 'GMP';

Note: This needs Math::BigInt::GMP installed.

The following would first try to find Math::BigInt::Foo, then Math::BigInt::Bar, and when this also fails, revert to Math::BigInt::Calc:

use Math::BigRat try => 'Foo,Math::BigInt::Bar';

If you want to get warned when the fallback occurs, replace "try" with "lib":

use Math::BigRat lib => 'Foo,Math::BigInt::Bar';

If you want the code to die instead, replace "try" with "only":

use Math::BigRat only => 'Foo,Math::BigInt::Bar';

METHODS

Any methods not listed here are derived from Math::BigFloat (or Math::BigInt), so make sure you check these two modules for further information.

new()

$x = Math::BigRat->new('1/3');

Create a new Math::BigRat object. Input can come in various forms:

$x = Math::BigRat->new(123);				# scalars
$x = Math::BigRat->new('inf');				# infinity
$x = Math::BigRat->new('123.3');			# float
$x = Math::BigRat->new('1/3');				# simple string
$x = Math::BigRat->new('1 / 3');			# spaced
$x = Math::BigRat->new('1 / 0.1');			# w/ floats
$x = Math::BigRat->new(Math::BigInt->new(3));		# BigInt
$x = Math::BigRat->new(Math::BigFloat->new('3.1'));	# BigFloat
$x = Math::BigRat->new(Math::BigInt::Lite->new('2'));	# BigLite

# You can also give D and N as different objects:
$x = Math::BigRat->new(
	Math::BigInt->new(-123),
	Math::BigInt->new(7),
	);			# => -123/7

numerator()

$n = $x->numerator();

Returns a copy of the numerator (the part above the line) as signed BigInt.

denominator()

$d = $x->denominator();

Returns a copy of the denominator (the part under the line) as positive BigInt.

parts()

($n,$d) = $x->parts();

Return a list consisting of (signed) numerator and (unsigned) denominator as BigInts.

numify()

my $y = $x->numify();

Returns the object as a scalar. This will lose some data if the object cannot be represented by a normal Perl scalar (integer or float), so use as_int() or "as_float()" instead.

This routine is automatically used whenever a scalar is required:

my $x = Math::BigRat->new('3/1');
@array = (0,1,2,3);
$y = $array[$x];		# set $y to 3

as_int()/as_number()

$x = Math::BigRat->new('13/7');
print $x->as_int(),"\n";		# '1'

Returns a copy of the object as BigInt, truncated to an integer.

as_number() is an alias for as_int().

as_float()

$x = Math::BigRat->new('13/7');
print $x->as_float(),"\n";		# '1'

$x = Math::BigRat->new('2/3');
print $x->as_float(5),"\n";		# '0.66667'

Returns a copy of the object as BigFloat, preserving the accuracy as wanted, or the default of 40 digits.

This method was added in v0.22 of Math::BigRat (April 2008).

as_hex()

$x = Math::BigRat->new('13');
print $x->as_hex(),"\n";		# '0xd'

Returns the BigRat as hexadecimal string. Works only for integers.

as_bin()

$x = Math::BigRat->new('13');
print $x->as_bin(),"\n";		# '0x1101'

Returns the BigRat as binary string. Works only for integers.

as_oct()

$x = Math::BigRat->new('13');
print $x->as_oct(),"\n";		# '015'

Returns the BigRat as octal string. Works only for integers.

from_hex()/from_bin()/from_oct()

my $h = Math::BigRat->from_hex('0x10');
my $b = Math::BigRat->from_bin('0b10000000');
my $o = Math::BigRat->from_oct('020');

Create a BigRat from an hexadecimal, binary or octal number in string form.

length()

$len = $x->length();

Return the length of $x in digits for integer values.

digit()

print Math::BigRat->new('123/1')->digit(1);	# 1
print Math::BigRat->new('123/1')->digit(-1);	# 3

Return the N'ths digit from X when X is an integer value.

bnorm()

$x->bnorm();

Reduce the number to the shortest form. This routine is called automatically whenever it is needed.

bfac()

$x->bfac();

Calculates the factorial of $x. For instance:

print Math::BigRat->new('3/1')->bfac(),"\n";	# 1*2*3
print Math::BigRat->new('5/1')->bfac(),"\n";	# 1*2*3*4*5

Works currently only for integers.

bround()/round()/bfround()

Are not yet implemented.

bmod()

use Math::BigRat;
my $x = Math::BigRat->new('7/4');
my $y = Math::BigRat->new('4/3');
print $x->bmod($y);

Set $x to the remainder of the division of $x by $y.

bneg()

$x->bneg();

Used to negate the object in-place.

is_one()

print "$x is 1\n" if $x->is_one();

Return true if $x is exactly one, otherwise false.

is_zero()

print "$x is 0\n" if $x->is_zero();

Return true if $x is exactly zero, otherwise false.

is_pos()/is_positive()

print "$x is >= 0\n" if $x->is_positive();

Return true if $x is positive (greater than or equal to zero), otherwise false. Please note that '+inf' is also positive, while 'NaN' and '-inf' aren't.

is_positive() is an alias for is_pos().

is_neg()/is_negative()

print "$x is < 0\n" if $x->is_negative();

Return true if $x is negative (smaller than zero), otherwise false. Please note that '-inf' is also negative, while 'NaN' and '+inf' aren't.

is_negative() is an alias for is_neg().

is_int()

print "$x is an integer\n" if $x->is_int();

Return true if $x has a denominator of 1 (e.g. no fraction parts), otherwise false. Please note that '-inf', 'inf' and 'NaN' aren't integer.

is_odd()

print "$x is odd\n" if $x->is_odd();

Return true if $x is odd, otherwise false.

is_even()

print "$x is even\n" if $x->is_even();

Return true if $x is even, otherwise false.

bceil()

$x->bceil();

Set $x to the next bigger integer value (e.g. truncate the number to integer and then increment it by one).

bfloor()

$x->bfloor();

Truncate $x to an integer value.

bsqrt()

$x->bsqrt();

Calculate the square root of $x.

broot()

$x->broot($n);

Calculate the N'th root of $x.

badd()/bmul()/bsub()/bdiv()/bdec()/binc()

Please see the documentation in Math::BigInt.

copy()

my $z = $x->copy();

Makes a deep copy of the object.

Please see the documentation in Math::BigInt for further details.

bstr()/bsstr()

my $x = Math::BigInt->new('8/4');
print $x->bstr(),"\n";			# prints 1/2
print $x->bsstr(),"\n";			# prints 1/2

Return a string representing this object.

bacmp()/bcmp()

Used to compare numbers.

Please see the documentation in Math::BigInt for further details.

blsft()/brsft()

Used to shift numbers left/right.

Please see the documentation in Math::BigInt for further details.

bpow()

$x->bpow($y);

Compute $x ** $y.

Please see the documentation in Math::BigInt for further details.

bexp()

$x->bexp($accuracy);		# calculate e ** X

Calculates two integers A and B so that A/B is equal to e ** $x, where e is Euler's number.

This method was added in v0.20 of Math::BigRat (May 2007).

See also blog().

bnok()

$x->bnok($y);		   # x over y (binomial coefficient n over k)

Calculates the binomial coefficient n over k, also called the "choose" function. The result is equivalent to:

( n )      n!
| - |  = -------
( k )    k!(n-k)!

This method was added in v0.20 of Math::BigRat (May 2007).

config()

use Data::Dumper;

print Dumper ( Math::BigRat->config() );
print Math::BigRat->config()->{lib},"\n";

Returns a hash containing the configuration, e.g. the version number, lib loaded etc. The following hash keys are currently filled in with the appropriate information.

key             RO/RW   Description
                        Example
============================================================
lib             RO      Name of the Math library
                        Math::BigInt::Calc
lib_version     RO      Version of 'lib'
                        0.30
class           RO      The class of config you just called
                        Math::BigRat
version         RO      version number of the class you used
                        0.10
upgrade         RW      To which class numbers are upgraded
                        undef
downgrade       RW      To which class numbers are downgraded
                        undef
precision       RW      Global precision
                        undef
accuracy        RW      Global accuracy
                        undef
round_mode      RW      Global round mode
                        even
div_scale       RW      Fallback accuracy for div
                        40
trap_nan        RW      Trap creation of NaN (undef = no)
                        undef
trap_inf        RW      Trap creation of +inf/-inf (undef = no)
                        undef

By passing a reference to a hash you may set the configuration values. This works only for values that a marked with a RW above, anything else is read-only.

objectify()

This is an internal routine that turns scalars into objects.

BUGS

Some things are not yet implemented, or only implemented half-way:

inf handling (partial)
NaN handling (partial)
rounding (not implemented except for bceil/bfloor)
$x ** $y where $y is not an integer
bmod(), blog(), bmodinv() and bmodpow() (partial)

LICENSE

This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO

Math::BigFloat and Math::Big as well as Math::BigInt::Pari and Math::BigInt::GMP.

See http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=bignum for a way to use Math::BigRat.

The package at http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=Math%3A%3ABigRat may contain more documentation and examples as well as testcases.

AUTHORS

(C) by Tels http://bloodgate.com/ 2001 - 2009.

Currently maintained by Jonathan "Duke" Leto <jonathan@leto.net> http://leto.net