I’ve found a vulnerability in Perl

The Perl project takes security issues seriously. Please refer to the Perl security report handling policy for a detailed description on how to report issues to the Perl security team

The CPAN Security Group does not handle security issues in Perl, with the exception of dual-life core modules. We will coordinate with the Perl security team if necessary.

I’ve found malware on CPAN

Please contact our security team on cpan-security@perl.org privately, with the following information:

  • Distribution name, version, and download URL
  • Description of malicious behavior
  • Relevant logs, packet capture, code lines, screenshots or other context

Examples of malware reports include: typo squatting, dependency confusion, exfiltration of private data, code obfuscation, outbound connections to malicious command and control servers, etc.

I’ve found signs of a compromised CPAN account

Please contact the PAUSE admins on pause-admin@perl.org privately, with the following information:

  • CPAN id (PAUSE login)
  • Any evidence of the account being compromised

I’ve found a vulnerability in a distribution on CPAN

If you believe you have found a security vulnerability in a distribution on CPAN, please follow the Coordinated vulnerability disclosure model.

It’s important that you do not post information about it on:

  • bug trackers, like RT or GitHub
  • social media or chat channels, like IRC or Mastodon
  • mailing lists or discussion forums

Step 1: Prepare a Report

Please provide a detailed description of the steps required to reproduce the vulnerability.

The following information is required:

  • Distribution name, version and download URL
  • Proof of concept code, or a description on how to reproduce
  • Logs, code lines, screenshots and other context if relevant

Also consider proposing a date for public disclosure, this is usually 30 days or longer.

Step 2: Contact the Author

Send the vulnerability report to the distribution author by email or other private channels. You can CC our team on cpan-security@perl.org on the report if you would like us to help in triaging the issue, register CVE identifiers, or for any other reason.

The authors email address is usually available in the documentation, or on their page on metacpan.org.

When authors receive a vulnerability report, they will usually need some time to:

  • Confirm the problem and assess severity;
  • Check the code to find any potential similar problems;
  • Prepare fixes and coordinate a release.

Please allow for some time for authors and potential downstream distributions to coordinate fixes before going public. It is not unusual for authors to request extensions to any proposed disclosure date.

If the Author is unresponsive

If the author is unresponsive, or you are concerned that the issue is not being handled, or for other reasons, then please send the report to cpan-security@perl.org so we can coordinate with authors and relevant community members directly.

If you wish that we keep your identity private, please state this in the first line of your email to us. You do not need to provide any rationale.

Step 3: Disclosure

When disclosure has been agreed by the parties, or if details of the vulnerability have otherwise been made public, the CPAN Security Group will take following actions:

  1. Add a public record to CPAN vulnerability databases
  2. Register a CVE number, if relevant