Pre-authentication memory exhaustion via failed-load caching
Published Aug 16, 2026 · Updated Aug 16, 2026
Resource exhaustion in Net-OAuth before 0.32 allows remote attackers to crash persistent Perl workers via crafted OAuth requests. Net::OAuth::smart_require caches every attacker-chosen signature-method class name in the process-global %ALREADY_REQUIRED hash, including failed loads, without a bound or eviction. No credentials or valid signature are required because verify resolves the class first; repeated unique names retain memory until the worker is OOM-killed.
Summary
What happened
Resource exhaustion in Net-OAuth before 0.32 allows remote attackers to crash persistent Perl workers via crafted OAuth requests. Net::OAuth::smart_require caches every attacker-chosen signature-method class name in the process-global %ALREADY_REQUIRED hash, including failed loads, without a bound or eviction. No credentials or valid signature are required because verify resolves the class first; repeated unique names retain memory until the worker is OOM-killed.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-72888
- Published
- Aug 16, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 16, 2026
- Vendor
- Robert Rothenberg
- Product
- Net-OAuth
- Classifications
- CWE-770, T1499.003
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 16, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <0.32
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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