CVE-2026-14741Network attack vector

CPU exhaustion via polynomial regex backtracking

Published Jul 17, 2026 · Updated Jul 17, 2026

Regular expression denial of service in HTTP::Date before 6.08 allows remote attackers to exhaust CPU via crafted date headers. parse_date and its str2time caller apply alternative regexes with adjacent unbounded quantifiers before a trailing end anchor, forcing polynomial backtracking on long inputs that nearly match. Any network-facing caller that passes an untrusted Date, Expires, or Last-Modified value into either routine can suffer a prolonged processing hang while one request consumes CPU.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.35%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Regular expression denial of service in HTTP::Date before 6.08 allows remote attackers to exhaust CPU via crafted date headers. parse_date and its str2time caller apply alternative regexes with adjacent unbounded quantifiers before a trailing end anchor, forcing polynomial backtracking on long inputs that nearly match. Any network-facing caller that passes an untrusted Date, Expires, or Last-Modified value into either routine can suffer a prolonged processing hang while one request consumes CPU.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-14741
Published
Jul 17, 2026
Updated
Jul 17, 2026
Vendor
Olaf Alders
Product
HTTP::Date
Classifications
CWE-1333, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 17, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <6.08

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Olaf Alders · HTTP::Dateversion=0 <6.08

Published CVSS scores

7.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1333Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo