Description
Starman versions before 0.4019 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via quadratic regex backtracking when parsing chunked request bodies.
Starman decodes chunked request bodies before calling the application, matching each chunk-size line with `s/^(([0-9a-fA-F]+).*\015\012)//`. A line of hex digits followed by a bare LF and then CRLF never matches, because `.` does not match LF, and each failed attempt backtracks in time quadratic in the length of the hex run. Nothing limits the length of the line.
A remote attacker can exhaust worker CPU by sending such requests to any route.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Starman | < 0.4019 | 0.4019 |
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 | starman | 0.4019-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | starman | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | starman | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | starman | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | starman | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | starman | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | starman | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | starman | No fix yet | — |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | starman | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | starman | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | perl-Starman | 0.4019-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:12276-1 |
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2026:12276-1 perl-Starman-0.4019-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 27, 2026