HTTP::Headers::ActionPack versions before 0.10 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via Accept-Language ranges matched as regular expressions

HTTP::Headers::ActionPack versions before 0.10 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via Accept-Language ranges matched as regular expressions. _language_match interpolates each Accept-Language range into the pattern `/^$range\-/i` without escaping it, so regular expression syntax in the header reaches the regex engine. A 12-byte range such as `(a?|b?){26}z` backtracks for seconds, and each increment of the quantifier doubles the time. An invalid range such as `(` fails to compile. A remote attacker can exhaust CPU, or make choose_language die, in any application that passes an untrusted Accept-Language header to it.

Source published

23 Oct 2026 20:07:20 UTC

Source modified

23 Oct 2026 20:07:20 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 21:48:20 UTC

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