CPANSA-DBI-2026-78030: DBI vulnerability

Publisher giterlizzi Document category csaf_security_advisory
Initial release date 2026-09-19T00:00:00 Engine CSAF Perl Toolkit 0.26
Current release date 2026-09-19T00:00:00 Build Date
Current version 1 Status final
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8 Severity Critical
Original language Language en
Also referred to

Vulnerability Description

DBI versions before 1.653 for Perl load arbitrary modules via unvalidated dbm_type and dbm_mldbm attributes in DBD::DBM.

DBD::DBM passes the dbm_type and dbm_mldbm connect attributes to require without checking that the value names a module. require treats a path-shaped string as a literal filename and does not consult @INC, so the attribute chooses the file that Perl loads and runs.

The MLDBM::Serializer:: prefix that DBD::DBM prepends to dbm_mldbm is not a boundary: only the :: separators are rewritten to /, so a value containing / traverses out of the serializer directory. The value is also assigned to $MLDBM::Serializer, which MLDBM requires the same way when it ties the table.

A caller that lets an untrusted party influence either attribute, for example through a DSN fragment or a parameter that selects a storage backend, runs the file-scope code of whatever module the value names.

For example,

my $dsn = "dbi:DBM:f_dir=/var/db;dbm_type=../../Untrusted.pm"
my $dbh = DBI->connect( $dsn );

Note that DBD::Gofer forwards connect attributes to the server side, and DBI::ProxyServer checks only that a DSN starts with a driver prefix.

Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-78030

Vulnerability Description

DBI versions before 1.653 for Perl load arbitrary modules via unvalidated dbm_type and dbm_mldbm attributes in DBD::DBM.

DBD::DBM passes the dbm_type and dbm_mldbm connect attributes to require without checking that the value names a module. require treats a path-shaped string as a literal filename and does not consult @INC, so the attribute chooses the file that Perl loads and runs.

The MLDBM::Serializer:: prefix that DBD::DBM prepends to dbm_mldbm is not a boundary: only the :: separators are rewritten to /, so a value containing / traverses out of the serializer directory. The value is also assigned to $MLDBM::Serializer, which MLDBM requires the same way when it ties the table.

A caller that lets an untrusted party influence either attribute, for example through a DSN fragment or a parameter that selects a storage backend, runs the file-scope code of whatever module the value names.

For example,

my $dsn = "dbi:DBM:f_dir=/var/db;dbm_type=../../Untrusted.pm"
my $dbh = DBI->connect( $dsn );

Note that DBD::Gofer forwards connect attributes to the server side, and DBI::ProxyServer checks only that a DSN starts with a driver prefix.

Weakness CWE-470 : Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection')

Product status

Known affected
Product Score
DBI less than 1.653
CVSS Version CVSS Vector CVSS Base Score CVSS Base Severity
3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 9.8 Critical
Fixed

giterlizzi

Namespace: https://github.com/giterlizzi/

gdt@cpan.org

References

Revision history

Version Date of the revision Summary of the revision
1 Sat Sep 19 00:00:00 2026 First release

Sharing rules

TLP:WHITE
For the TLP version see: https://www.first.org/tlp/