---
id: CVE-2026-85783
title: >-
  Crypt::Age versions before 0.004 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via an
  unbounded number of recipient stanzas, each costing an X25519 scalar
  multiplication in unwrap_file_key
summary: >-
  Crypt::Age versions before 0.004 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via an
  unbounded number of recipient stanzas, each costing an X25519 scalar
  multiplication in unwrap_file_key.


  The header parser accepts any number of recipient stanzas, and…
severity: none
cwe:
  - CWE-770
  - CWE-405
product: Crypt-Age
affected:
  - Crypt-Age < 0.004
published: '2026-10-20'
updated: '2026-10-21'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-21T00:17:19.299Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-85783'
references:
  - url: 'https://metacpan.org/release/GETTY/Crypt-Age-0.004/changes'
tags:
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-20T22:23:33.698Z'
---

## Overview

Crypt::Age versions before 0.004 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via an unbounded number of recipient stanzas, each costing an X25519 scalar multiplication in unwrap_file_key.

The header parser accepts any number of recipient stanzas, and unwrap_file_key tries every identity against every X25519 stanza. Each attempt runs a scalar multiplication, an HKDF and a ChaCha20-Poly1305 open. The header MAC cannot be checked first, because its key comes from the file key, which only a successful unwrap produces.

Each stanza is 98 bytes of attacker-chosen header and buys one scalar multiplication per identity held, and the file is rejected only after every one of them has run. A caller reaches this through decrypt, decrypt_file or decrypt_filehandle whenever it decrypts a file it did not write.

## Affected

- `Crypt-Age < 0.004`

## Remediation

Upgrade to Crypt-Age 0.004 or later.