CPANSA-HTML-FormFu-2026-19873: HTML-FormFu vulnerability

Publisher giterlizzi Document category csaf_security_advisory
Initial release date 2026-08-31T00:00:00 Engine CSAF Perl Toolkit 0.26
Current release date 2026-08-31T00:00:00 Build Date
Current version 1 Status final
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5 Severity High
Original language Language en
Also referred to

Vulnerability Description

HTML::FormFu versions through 2.08 for Perl allow resource exhaustion via an unbounded repeat count from the query string in Repeatable elements.

When a Repeatable element has counter_name set, its process method reads the repeat count from the named query string parameter, checks only that it is a positive integer, and passes it to repeat, which deep-clones the element's child subtree once per iteration. Nothing caps the value, and no attribute lets an application impose a limit.

The count is read on every request, before the form decides whether it was submitted, so a plain GET reaches the clone loop with no credentials, no session and no request body. Nesting multiplies: a Repeatable inside a Repeatable takes a counter at each level, so an outer and an inner value of 100 build 10,000 clones.

Once the form is submitted, each cloned field's constraints scan the whole element tree in _find_field_value, so cost grows faster than linearly with the count. A single request exhausts memory and CPU.

The latest release on CPAN is 2.07, from 2018. Version 2.08 exists only in the git repository.

Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-19873

Vulnerability Description

HTML::FormFu versions through 2.08 for Perl allow resource exhaustion via an unbounded repeat count from the query string in Repeatable elements.

When a Repeatable element has counter_name set, its process method reads the repeat count from the named query string parameter, checks only that it is a positive integer, and passes it to repeat, which deep-clones the element's child subtree once per iteration. Nothing caps the value, and no attribute lets an application impose a limit.

The count is read on every request, before the form decides whether it was submitted, so a plain GET reaches the clone loop with no credentials, no session and no request body. Nesting multiplies: a Repeatable inside a Repeatable takes a counter at each level, so an outer and an inner value of 100 build 10,000 clones.

Once the form is submitted, each cloned field's constraints scan the whole element tree in _find_field_value, so cost grows faster than linearly with the count. A single request exhausts memory and CPU.

The latest release on CPAN is 2.07, from 2018. Version 2.08 exists only in the git repository.

Weakness CWE-770 : Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Product status

Known affected
Product Score
HTML-FormFu greater than 0
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:N/I:N/A:H 7.5 High

giterlizzi

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

gdt@cpan.org

References

Revision history

Version Date of the revision Summary of the revision
1 Mon Aug 31 00:00:00 2026 First release

Sharing rules

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