The POST handler on challenge_path keeps the failure count as tries inside the totp_pending record in the session, raising it on each rejected code and deleting the pending record once it reaches attempts, five by default. Punk::Session carries the session in a signed cookie unless the application declares a store, and keeps no server-side record, so an earlier value of the same session stays valid until the expiry stamped inside it. A client that saves the cookie before its failed attempts and presents it again gets the pending record back with its counter, and the limit never fires. The replayed record is accepted while its own expiry, pending_ttl seconds from the challenge and 300 by default, has not passed.
Sessions declared with a store are not affected: the pending record and its counter then live server-side.
The attempt limit does not bound guessing of the second factor, which is left to the per-address rate limit the plugin registers on the same path, 30 requests per 60 seconds.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
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Solution
Upgrade to Punk-TOTP 0.05 or later, and add the two columns the count is kept in to the user table (totp_failed and totp_failed_at by default, named by fields).
Workaround
For deployments that cannot upgrade to 0.05, declare the session keyword with a store, which needs a Punk::Cache backend shared between workers. The cookie then carries only an opaque id and the counter is out of the client's reach.
Tue, 25 Aug 2026 21:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Punk::Plugin::TOTP versions before 0.05 for Perl allow the second-factor attempt limit to be reset by replaying an earlier session cookie because the challenge route counts failures in the session. The POST handler on challenge_path keeps the failure count as tries inside the totp_pending record in the session, raising it on each rejected code and deleting the pending record once it reaches attempts, five by default. Punk::Session carries the session in a signed cookie unless the application declares a store, and keeps no server-side record, so an earlier value of the same session stays valid until the expiry stamped inside it. A client that saves the cookie before its failed attempts and presents it again gets the pending record back with its counter, and the limit never fires. The replayed record is accepted while its own expiry, pending_ttl seconds from the challenge and 300 by default, has not passed. Sessions declared with a store are not affected: the pending record and its counter then live server-side. The attempt limit does not bound guessing of the second factor, which is left to the per-address rate limit the plugin registers on the same path, 30 requests per 60 seconds. | |
| Title | Punk::Plugin::TOTP versions before 0.05 for Perl allow the second-factor attempt limit to be reset by replaying an earlier session cookie because the challenge route counts failures in the session | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-307 CWE-642 |
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Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: CPANSec
Published:
Updated: 2026-08-25T21:23:48.494Z
Reserved: 2026-08-24T23:12:17.196Z
Link: CVE-2026-78655
Vulnrichment
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NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-08-25T22:17:06.537
Modified: 2026-08-25T22:17:06.537
Link: CVE-2026-78655
Redhat
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OpenCVE Enrichment
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