CVE-2026-8463

MEDIUMCVSS 5.3/10EPSS 0.33%

Last modified

CVE-2026-8463 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.3/10 on the CVSS scale. Crypt::Argon2 versions from 0.017 before 0.031 for Perl perform a heap out-of-bounds read in argon2_verify on empty encoded input. The auto-detect form of argon2_verify passes encoded_len - 1 as the length argument to memchr without checking that encoded_len is non-zero. When the encoded string is empty, the size_t subtraction underflows to SIZE_MAX and memchr scans adjacent heap memory looking for a '$' separator byte. A caller that invokes argon2_verify against a stored hash that may legitimately be empty (for example a placeholder row or a NULL column materialised as an empty string) reads out-of-bounds heap memory, which can crash the process or leak the position of an adjacent '$' byte into subsequent parsing.. EPSS estimates a 0.33% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

Crypt::Argon2 versions from 0.017 before 0.031 for Perl perform a heap out-of-bounds read in argon2_verify on empty encoded input. The auto-detect form of argon2_verify passes encoded_len - 1 as the length argument to memchr without checking that encoded_len is non-zero. When the encoded string is empty, the size_t subtraction underflows to SIZE_MAX and memchr scans adjacent heap memory looking for a '$' separator byte. A caller that invokes argon2_verify against a stored hash that may legitimately be empty (for example a placeholder row or a NULL column materialised as an empty string) reads out-of-bounds heap memory, which can crash the process or leak the position of an adjacent '$' byte into subsequent parsing.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
5.3/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

EPSS Probability
0.33%

24.4th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

VendorProductVersionsUpdate
LeontCrypt\>= 0.017, < 0.031Argon2

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-8463?
Crypt::Argon2 versions from 0.017 before 0.031 for Perl perform a heap out-of-bounds read in argon2_verify on empty encoded input. The auto-detect form of argon2_verify passes encoded_len - 1 as the length argument to memchr without checking that encoded_len is non-zero. When the encoded string is empty, the size_t subtraction underflows to SIZE_MAX and memchr scans adjacent heap memory looking for a '$' separator byte. A caller that invokes argon2_verify against a stored hash that may legitimately be empty (for example a placeholder row or a NULL column materialised as an empty string) reads out-of-bounds heap memory, which can crash the process or leak the position of an adjacent '$' byte into subsequent parsing.
How severe is CVE-2026-8463?
CVE-2026-8463 has a CVSS score of 5.3/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.33% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-8463?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2026-8463?

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Source: NVD / NIST