# CVE-2026-120646: CGI versions from 4.71 before 5.00 for Perl allow denial of service via a plain string dereferenced as a symbolic reference in uploadInfo

Status: published. Published: 2026-11-03. Updated: 2026-11-03.

CGI versions from 4.71 before 5.00 for Perl allow denial of service via a plain string dereferenced as a symbolic reference in uploadInfo.

uploadInfo dereferences its argument and calls its filename method without checking that it is an upload filehandle. A plain string naming a defined global variable, such as the parameter value from ?upload=0, is treated as a symbolic reference, and the method call on it dies.

## Remediation

- fix: Upgrade to CGI 5.00 or later. (source: CNA: CPANSec)
- fix: The reporting source identifies this reference as a patch. Check the advisory for affected versions and supported release branches. (source: CNA: CPANSec) — https://github.com/leejo/CGI.pm/commit/a14a7decfdc18f2daf436d30df9b543e3f0f8da3.patch

## Affected products and versions

-  /  (CGI): ≥ 4.71; < 5.00 (affected, custom). Source: CNA: CPANSec

## Severity and prioritization

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: Not available

- SSVC: Not available

- Weaknesses: CWE-843

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://metacpan.org/release/LEEJO/CGI-4.72/source/lib/CGI.pm (CNA: CPANSec; technical-description)

- https://metacpan.org/release/LEEJO/CGI-5.00/changes (CNA: CPANSec; release-notes)

- https://github.com/leejo/CGI.pm/commit/a14a7decfdc18f2daf436d30df9b543e3f0f8da3.patch (CNA: CPANSec; patch)

## Provenance

- CNA: CPANSec: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-120646; retrieved 2026-11-04; source updated 2026-11-03

Revision: 49278f97a2c864c30f2b5a6f3361f25235547b8e44e88f16e7ea3c43834e7501

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-120646

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