External risk intelligence

Text::CSV_XS Use-After-Free Memory Corruption

CVE advisorySeverity: CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8)

CVE-2026-110753

Text::CSV_XS is a library for parsing CSV files within Perl applications. It is a data processing component rather than a network-facing service, appliance, or edge gateway. Vulnerabilities in such libraries typically require the application to process specific, maliciously crafted data files, and the library itself is not inherently exposed to the public internet.

Use After Free

Halo Surface Signal: 1 out of 5 — much less likely to be public-facing.

External exposure likelihood

Horizon Alert

Summary of the vulnerability and why it matters

A vulnerability in a widely used Perl module for handling CSV data allows for the potential of application crashes due to a memory management issue when processing certain file formats. While this specific module is not directly exposed to the internet, its use within applications means that specially crafted data inputs could trigger the vulnerability. The primary concern at this stage is to confirm if and where this module is utilized within your environment to assess any potential exposure.

Memory issue in Perl CSV processing.
Affects data handling applications; confirm relevance.
Understand usage to assess potential exposure.

Attack Path

How an attacker could exploit the issue

An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing a specially crafted CSV file to a Perl application that uses Text::CSV_XS. When the application processes this file, particularly if it encounters empty lines at the end or uses a specific mode for reading, the library may free memory that is still in use. This use-after-free condition could then be leveraged by later code to crash the application.

Requires processing a malicious CSV file.
Triggered by empty lines during CSV parsing.
Risk of application crash.

Live Threat

Current exploitation, exposure, and threat context

When `Text::CSV_XS` processes CSV data with `bind_columns` and encounters empty rows, it may free memory that is still in use by the application. This can lead to the application crashing when it attempts to use the freed memory.

Application crashes due to memory corruption.
Processing maliciously crafted CSV files.
Interruption of data processing services.

Operational Fix

Recommended remediation, mitigation, and detection steps

This vulnerability resides within the Text::CSV_XS library used in Perl applications. Application owners and platform teams should initiate an inventory of where this library is deployed, prioritizing critical systems and externally facing services that process untrusted CSV data. The immediate next step is to confirm the scope of exposure and identify the accountable owner for remediation.

Identify application owners.
Verify CSV data processing.
Plan risk-based remediation.

Supplementary metadata

CVSS vector

Validate whether this threat affects your internet-facing exposure.

Halo Threat Intelligence helps prioritize remediation with Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context. Start exposure validation with a free external attack surface trial.

Free EASM Trial See How Signal Works

Frequently asked questions

What is Text::CSV_XS?

Text::CSV_XS is a high-performance Perl module used to parse and generate CSV files. It is widely embedded within applications to handle data import and export tasks, allowing programs to read rows and columns from structured text files efficiently.

What does use-after-free mean for CVE-2026-110753?

This vulnerability is a memory management error known as use-after-free (CWE-416). It occurs because the library incorrectly releases memory still being used by the application to store data. If the application later tries to access that freed memory, it can lead to instability or crashes.

How is this memory error triggered?

The vulnerability is triggered when the library processes specific CSV structures—specifically empty rows at the end of a file—while using the 'bind_columns' feature. It does not trigger when parsing standard, well-formed CSV files that lack these specific empty-line conditions.

Is my application at risk?

According to Halo Surface Signal, this library is a data-processing component, not an internet-facing service itself. Risk depends on whether your application processes untrusted or maliciously crafted CSV files from external sources, which could act as the attack vector.

How should I respond to this vulnerability?

First, conduct an inventory to locate where Text::CSV_XS is used in your environment. Focus on applications that handle CSV input from external users. Once identified, track the library version and prepare to update your Perl dependencies to version 1.65 or later.

References

Written by Nicholas Merritt

Nicholas Merritt is VP of Security Solutions at Halo Security. With more than 25 years across application security, vulnerability prioritization, and offensive security, he helps teams translate threat data into practical exposure validation and remediation focus. He authors Halo Threat Intelligence CVE advisories using Halo Surface Signal and H/A/L/O context to prioritize internet-facing risk.