Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-3381

Pmqs Compress\ \

Published
05 March 2026
Modified
18 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0055 43th percentile
Risk Priority 72 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-3381 is a critical-severity Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input (CWE-1284) vulnerability in Pmqs Compress\. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 43th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Compress::Raw::Zlib versions through 2.219 for Perl bundle potentially insecure versions of the zlib library, exposing users to vulnerabilities identified in a 7ASecurity audit of zlib. This Perl module includes its own copy of zlib, which in affected versions predates the fixes in zlib 1.3.2. The issue is tracked as CVE-2026-3381 with CWE-1284 and a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8, indicating critical severity due to high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Remote attackers require no privileges or user interaction to exploit this over the network with low complexity. Successful exploitation can result in high-impact compromise, allowing arbitrary code execution, data tampering, or denial of service on systems processing zlib-compressed data via the affected Compress::Raw::Zlib module.

Advisories recommend upgrading to Compress::Raw::Zlib version 2.220 or later, which integrates zlib 1.3.2 and addresses the 7ASecurity audit findings, including fixes for CVE-2026-27171. Relevant resources include the 7ASecurity blog post on the audit, zlib GitHub repository and v1.3.2 release notes, a Compress-Raw-Zlib issue tracker entry, and the module's Changes file on MetaCPAN.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Compress::Raw::Zlib versions through 2.219 for Perl use potentially insecure versions of zlib. Compress::Raw::Zlib includes a copy of the zlib library. Compress::Raw::Zlib version 2.220 includes zlib 1.3.2, which addresses findings fron the 7ASecurity audit of zlib. The includes fixs for CVE-2026-27171.

CWE(s)
CWE-1284

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-8558Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2023-27941Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2025-8320Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2025-14689Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2026-2403Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2025-48507Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2025-36407Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2023-20515Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2025-10259Shared CWE-1284
CVE-2026-33349Shared CWE-1284

Affected Assets

pmqs
compress\
\

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.7.2
  • V1.4.2
  • V2.1.1
  • V2.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

SI-10 requires validity checks on information inputs, directly stopping acceptance of malformed quantities before they can be used.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper quantity/length validation in input handling.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect missing quantity validation but does not itself implement the control.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation for quantity fields, directly preventing CWE-1284.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for validation of size/length inputs, mitigating CWE-1284.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage robust input handling but do not specifically address quantity validation.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require explicit checks on numeric quantity inputs, fully addressing CWE-1284.

References