CVE-2026-46739 in Net::Statsd
Summary
by MITRE • 06/04/2026
Net::Statsd versions before 0.13 for Perl allow metric injections.
The metric names are not checked for newlines, colons or pipes. Metrics generated from untrusted sources could inject additional statsd metrics.
The update_stats (used for updating counters) and gauge methods do not check that values are numeric (which would block metric injection).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2026
The vulnerability in Net::Statsd versions prior to 013 represents a critical security flaw that enables metric injection attacks through improper input validation. This issue stems from the lack of sanitization checks on metric names and values, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject unauthorized statistics into the monitoring system. The flaw specifically affects the update_stats method and gauge functionality, where the software fails to validate that input parameters conform to expected formats, particularly regarding the numeric nature of metric values.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the absence of character validation in metric name processing. The software does not filter out special characters such as newlines, colons, or pipes that are commonly used in statsd protocol parsing. When metrics are generated from untrusted sources, attackers can craft malicious input containing these control characters to inject additional metrics beyond the intended scope. This injection capability allows for arbitrary metric creation that can bypass normal monitoring controls and potentially manipulate system observability data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data corruption, as it enables attackers to manipulate monitoring systems in ways that can obscure legitimate operational issues or create false security alerts. The lack of numeric validation for gauge values means that attackers can inject non-numeric data that may cause parsing errors or unexpected behavior in downstream systems that consume these metrics. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-77 and CWE-94, which address injection flaws and code injection respectively, as the software fails to properly sanitize inputs before processing them as metric data.
Organizations utilizing Net::Statsd for application monitoring face significant risks from this vulnerability, as it can be exploited to create false positive alerts, mask actual security incidents, or even cause denial of service conditions in monitoring infrastructure. The attack surface is particularly concerning in environments where application metrics are collected from multiple untrusted sources, as the injection can occur at any point in the data collection pipeline. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1070.004 which covers indicators of compromise through manipulation of log data, and T1566 which addresses social engineering through manipulation of input data.
The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to Net::Statsd version 0.13 or later, which implements proper input validation and sanitization. Additionally, organizations should implement strict input validation at all points where metric data is accepted from external sources, ensuring that all metric names are sanitized to remove or escape special characters. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit which systems can submit metrics to monitoring endpoints, and regular monitoring of metric injection attempts should be conducted to detect potential exploitation attempts. The fix addresses the core issue by implementing proper parameter validation, ensuring that all metric values are numeric and that metric names are properly sanitized before processing, thereby preventing the injection of malicious data into the statsd monitoring system.