Description
Eval injection vulnerability in the Digest module before 1.17 for Perl allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary commands via the new constructor.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | perl | 5.12.4-6 | — |
| Debian 13 | perl | 5.12.4-6 | — |
| Debian 12 | perl | 5.12.4-6 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 6 | perl +3 | 4:5.10.1-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Archive-Extract | 1:0.38-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Archive-Tar | 1.58-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-CGI | 3.51-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-CPAN | 1.9402-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-CPANPLUS | 0.88-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Compress-Raw-Zlib | 2.023-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Compress-Zlib +2 | 2.020-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Digest-SHA | 1:5.47-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-ExtUtils-CBuilder | 1:0.27-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-ExtUtils-Embed | 1.28-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-ExtUtils-MakeMaker | 6.55-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-ExtUtils-ParseXS | 1:2.2003.0-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-File-Fetch | 0.26-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-IO-Zlib | 1:1.09-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-IPC-Cmd | 1:0.56-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Locale-Maketext-Simple | 1:0.18-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Log-Message +2 | 1:0.02-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Log-Message-Simple | 0.04-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Module-Build | 1:0.3500-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Module-CoreList | 2.18-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Module-Load | 1:0.16-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Module-Load-Conditional | 0.30-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Module-Pluggable | 1:3.90-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Object-Accessor | 1:0.34-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Params-Check | 1:0.26-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Parse-CPAN-Meta | 1:1.40-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Pod-Escapes | 1:1.04-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Pod-Simple | 1:3.13-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Term-UI | 0.20-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Test-Harness | 3.17-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Test-Simple | 0.92-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Time-HiRes | 4:1.9721-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-Time-Piece | 1.15-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-core | 5.10.1-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-parent | 1:0.221-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 6 | perl-version | 3:0.77-119.el6_1.1 | RHSA-2011:1424 |
| RHEL 5 | perl +1 | 4:5.8.8-32.el5_7.6 | RHSA-2011:1797 |
| RHEL 4 | perl +1 | 3:5.8.5-57.el4 | RHSA-2011:1797 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- Perl 5.x - Digest Module 'Digest->new()' Code Injection EDB-36199 · remote · Oct 2, 2011 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 2
- RHSA-2011:1797 Red Hat Security Advisory: perl security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- RHSA-2011:1424 Red Hat Security Advisory: perl security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jan 29, 2026
References
- RHSA-2011:1797 vendor-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=743010
- MDVSA-2012:009 vendor-advisory
- http://aix.software.ibm.com/aix/efixes/security/perl_advisory2.asc
- USN-1643-1 vendor-advisory
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:19446 vdb-entry signature
- MDVSA-2012:008 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2011:1424 vendor-advisory
- http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10705
- 46279 third-party-advisory
- 51457 third-party-advisory
- http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10735
- http://cpansearch.perl.org/src/GAAS/Digest-1.17/Changes
- 49911 vdb-entry