RHSA-2025:8432
Vulnerability from csaf_redhat - Published: 2025-06-03 07:45 - Updated: 2026-03-18 03:00Summary
Red Hat Security Advisory: perl-CPAN security update
Severity
Moderate
Notes
Topic: An update for perl-CPAN is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Moderate. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.
Details: The CPAN module is a tool to query, download and build perl modules from CPAN sites.
Security Fix(es):
* perl-CPAN: Bypass of verification of signatures in CHECKSUMS files (CVE-2020-16156)
For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.
Terms of Use: This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). If you distribute this content, or a modified version of it, you must provide attribution to Red Hat Inc. and provide a link to the original.
A flaw was found in the way the perl-CPAN performed verification of package signatures stored in CHECKSUMS files. A malicious or compromised CPAN server used by a user, or a man-in-the-middle attacker, could use this flaw to bypass signature verification.
7.8 (High)
Affected products
Threats
Impact
Moderate
References
10 references
{
"document": {
"aggregate_severity": {
"namespace": "https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/",
"text": "Moderate"
},
"category": "csaf_security_advisory",
"csaf_version": "2.0",
"distribution": {
"text": "Copyright \u00a9 Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved.",
"tlp": {
"label": "WHITE",
"url": "https://www.first.org/tlp/"
}
},
"lang": "en",
"notes": [
{
"category": "summary",
"text": "An update for perl-CPAN is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.\n\nRed Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Moderate. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.",
"title": "Topic"
},
{
"category": "general",
"text": "The CPAN module is a tool to query, download and build perl modules from CPAN sites.\n\nSecurity Fix(es):\n\n* perl-CPAN: Bypass of verification of signatures in CHECKSUMS files (CVE-2020-16156)\n\nFor more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.",
"title": "Details"
},
{
"category": "legal_disclaimer",
"text": "This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). If you distribute this content, or a modified version of it, you must provide attribution to Red Hat Inc. and provide a link to the original.",
"title": "Terms of Use"
}
],
"publisher": {
"category": "vendor",
"contact_details": "https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/",
"issuing_authority": "Red Hat Product Security is responsible for vulnerability handling across all Red Hat products and services.",
"name": "Red Hat Product Security",
"namespace": "https://www.redhat.com"
},
"references": [
{
"category": "self",
"summary": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:8432",
"url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:8432"
},
{
"category": "external",
"summary": "https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#moderate",
"url": "https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#moderate"
},
{
"category": "external",
"summary": "2035273",
"url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2035273"
},
{
"category": "self",
"summary": "Canonical URL",
"url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2025/rhsa-2025_8432.json"
}
],
"title": "Red Hat Security Advisory: perl-CPAN security update",
"tracking": {
"current_release_date": "2026-03-18T03:00:36+00:00",
"generator": {
"date": "2026-03-18T03:00:36+00:00",
"engine": {
"name": "Red Hat SDEngine",
"version": "4.7.3"
}
},
"id": "RHSA-2025:8432",
"initial_release_date": "2025-06-03T07:45:18+00:00",
"revision_history": [
{
"date": "2025-06-03T07:45:18+00:00",
"number": "1",
"summary": "Initial version"
},
{
"date": "2025-06-03T07:45:18+00:00",
"number": "2",
"summary": "Last updated version"
},
{
"date": "2026-03-18T03:00:36+00:00",
"number": "3",
"summary": "Last generated version"
}
],
"status": "final",
"version": "3"
}
},
"product_tree": {
"branches": [
{
"branches": [
{
"branches": [
{
"category": "product_name",
"name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8)",
"product": {
"name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8)",
"product_id": "AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS",
"product_identification_helper": {
"cpe": "cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream"
}
}
}
],
"category": "product_family",
"name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux"
},
{
"branches": [
{
"category": "product_version",
"name": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src",
"product": {
"name": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src",
"product_id": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src",
"product_identification_helper": {
"purl": "pkg:rpm/redhat/perl-CPAN@2.18-402.el8_10?arch=src"
}
}
}
],
"category": "architecture",
"name": "src"
},
{
"branches": [
{
"category": "product_version",
"name": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"product": {
"name": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"product_id": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"product_identification_helper": {
"purl": "pkg:rpm/redhat/perl-CPAN@2.18-402.el8_10?arch=noarch"
}
}
}
],
"category": "architecture",
"name": "noarch"
}
],
"category": "vendor",
"name": "Red Hat"
}
],
"relationships": [
{
"category": "default_component_of",
"full_product_name": {
"name": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8)",
"product_id": "AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch"
},
"product_reference": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"relates_to_product_reference": "AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS"
},
{
"category": "default_component_of",
"full_product_name": {
"name": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8)",
"product_id": "AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src"
},
"product_reference": "perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src",
"relates_to_product_reference": "AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS"
}
]
},
"vulnerabilities": [
{
"cve": "CVE-2020-16156",
"cwe": {
"id": "CWE-347",
"name": "Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature"
},
"discovery_date": "2021-12-13T00:00:00+00:00",
"ids": [
{
"system_name": "Red Hat Bugzilla ID",
"text": "2035273"
}
],
"notes": [
{
"category": "description",
"text": "A flaw was found in the way the perl-CPAN performed verification of package signatures stored in CHECKSUMS files. A malicious or compromised CPAN server used by a user, or a man-in-the-middle attacker, could use this flaw to bypass signature verification.",
"title": "Vulnerability description"
},
{
"category": "summary",
"text": "perl-CPAN: Bypass of verification of signatures in CHECKSUMS files",
"title": "Vulnerability summary"
},
{
"category": "other",
"text": "This vulnerability is assigned a Moderate Severity rating primarily because of the multistep nature of the attack and the efficacy of environmental security controls. The underlying issue is a serious software flaw, designated as CWE 347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature, which means the system fails to correctly verify the digital authenticity of installation packages, potentially allowing an attacker to insert malicious software into the $\\text{CPAN}$ repository. However, successfully exploiting this flaw requires a complex attack chain: the adversary must first gain control of a legitimate $\\text{CPAN}$ distribution mirror and then actively deceive a targeted user into initiating an install from that compromised source, which necessitates User Interaction. Although the potential impact of a successful attack is high (leading to a complete compromise of the victim\u0027s data and system integrity), the severity is downgraded to Moderate in secure, regulated environments. This is because mandatory defenses such as enforcing secure $\\text{HTTPS/TLS}$ connections, implementing Multi Factor Authentication ($\\text{MFA}$), adhering to $\\text{least privilege}$ access principles, and mandating the use of $\\text{FIPS}$ validated cryptographic modules create robust, layered barriers that significantly increase the difficulty of both the required initial compromise and the necessary social engineering of a protected user, thus lowering the overall practical risk.",
"title": "Statement"
},
{
"category": "general",
"text": "The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product\u0027s status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.",
"title": "CVSS score applicability"
}
],
"product_status": {
"fixed": [
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src"
]
},
"references": [
{
"category": "self",
"summary": "Canonical URL",
"url": "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-16156"
},
{
"category": "external",
"summary": "RHBZ#2035273",
"url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2035273"
},
{
"category": "external",
"summary": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-16156",
"url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-16156"
},
{
"category": "external",
"summary": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16156",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16156"
},
{
"category": "external",
"summary": "http://blogs.perl.org/users/neilb/2021/11/addressing-cpan-vulnerabilities-related-to-checksums.html",
"url": "http://blogs.perl.org/users/neilb/2021/11/addressing-cpan-vulnerabilities-related-to-checksums.html"
},
{
"category": "external",
"summary": "https://blog.hackeriet.no/cpan-signature-verification-vulnerabilities/",
"url": "https://blog.hackeriet.no/cpan-signature-verification-vulnerabilities/"
}
],
"release_date": "2021-11-23T00:00:00+00:00",
"remediations": [
{
"category": "vendor_fix",
"date": "2025-06-03T07:45:18+00:00",
"details": "For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to:\n\nhttps://access.redhat.com/articles/11258",
"product_ids": [
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src"
],
"restart_required": {
"category": "none"
},
"url": "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:8432"
},
{
"category": "workaround",
"details": "This issue can be mitigated by configuring perl-CPAN to only use trusted CPAN mirrors (www.cpan.org or cpan.metacpan.org) and use HTTPS for communication with CPAN servers. If you already have a cpan configured, the list of configured mirrors can be viewed by running the `cpan` command without any argument and entering the following command on the cpan command\u0027s prompt:\n\n```\n o conf urllist\n```\n\nEnsure that the URL list only includes trusted mirrors and that https:// scheme is used for all URLs. A different set of mirrors can be configured using the following commands (these examples show how to configure one or more mirrors, only one of the commands should be used):\n\n```\n o conf urllist https://www.cpan.org\n o conf urllist https://www.cpan.org https://cpan.metacpan.org\n```\n\nAfter changing configuration, the following command must be used to save the configuration:\n\n```\n o conf commit\n```",
"product_ids": [
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src"
]
}
],
"scores": [
{
"cvss_v3": {
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
"baseScore": 7.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
"integrityImpact": "HIGH",
"privilegesRequired": "NONE",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"products": [
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.noarch",
"AppStream-8.10.0.Z.MAIN.EUS:perl-CPAN-0:2.18-402.el8_10.src"
]
}
],
"threats": [
{
"category": "impact",
"details": "Moderate"
}
],
"title": "perl-CPAN: Bypass of verification of signatures in CHECKSUMS files"
}
]
}
Loading…
Loading…
Experimental. This forecast is provided for visualization only and may change without notice. Do not use it for operational decisions.
Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Loading…
Loading…