RHSA-2025:8432

Vulnerability from csaf_redhat - Published: 2025-06-03 07:45 - Updated: 2026-03-18 03:00
Summary
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.

CWE-347 - Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
Vendor Fix For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:8432
Workaround 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's prompt: ``` o conf urllist ``` Ensure 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): ``` o conf urllist https://www.cpan.org o conf urllist https://www.cpan.org https://cpan.metacpan.org ``` After changing configuration, the following command must be used to save the configuration: ``` o conf commit ```

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        "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.",
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          "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"
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          "text": "perl-CPAN: Bypass of verification of signatures in CHECKSUMS files",
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          "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.",
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        {
          "category": "external",
          "summary": "http://blogs.perl.org/users/neilb/2021/11/addressing-cpan-vulnerabilities-related-to-checksums.html",
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      "release_date": "2021-11-23T00:00:00+00:00",
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          "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",
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          "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```",
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            "attackVector": "LOCAL",
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            "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"
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      "threats": [
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          "category": "impact",
          "details": "Moderate"
        }
      ],
      "title": "perl-CPAN: Bypass of verification of signatures in CHECKSUMS files"
    }
  ]
}


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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
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