Description
PCRE 7.8 and 8.32 through 8.37, and PCRE2 10.10 mishandle group empty matches, which might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack-based buffer overflow) via a crafted regular expression, as demonstrated by /^(?:(?(1)\\.|([^\\\\W_])?)+)+$/.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12 | pcre3 | 2:8.38-1 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 7 | pcre +3 | 8.32-15.el7_2.1 | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| RHEL 2 | rh-mariadb100-mariadb +8 | 1:10.0.25-4.el6 | RHSA-2016:1132 |
| RHEL 2 | rh-php56 +2 | 2.3-1.el6 | RHSA-2016:2750 |
| RHEL 2 | rh-php56-php +27 | 5.6.25-1.el6 | RHSA-2016:2750 |
| RHEL 2 | rh-php56-php-pear | 1:1.9.5-4.el6 | RHSA-2016:2750 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 12 SP2 | pcre | 8.39-5.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:3161-1, SUSE-SU-2016:2971-1 |
| SLES 12 SP1 | pcre | 8.39-5.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:3161-1, SUSE-SU-2016:2971-1 |
| SLES 12 | pcre | 8.39-7.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:3161-1 |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 12 SP2 | pcre | 8.39-5.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:3161-1, SUSE-SU-2016:2971-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP1 | pcre | 8.39-5.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:3161-1, SUSE-SU-2016:2971-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 | pcre | 8.39-7.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:3161-1 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 7 | pcre +3 | 8.32-15.el7_2.1 | ELSA-2016-1025 |
Advisories 6
- RHSA-2016:2750 Red Hat Security Advisory: rh-php56 security, bug fix, and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Aug 5, 2026
- RHSA-2016:1132 Red Hat Security Advisory: rh-mariadb100-mariadb security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Aug 5, 2026
- RHSA-2016:1025 Red Hat Security Advisory: pcre security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Aug 5, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2016:3161-1 Security update for pcre SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2016:2971-1 Security update for pcre SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- ELSA-2016-1025 Important: pcre security update (Oracle Linux 7) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · May 11, 2016
References
- RHSA-2016:1132 vendor-advisory
- http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre?view=revision&revision=1566
- https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1638
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
- [oss-security] 20150603 CVE-2015-3217: PCRE Library Call Stack Overflow Vulnerability in match() mailing-list
- http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1023886
- RHSA-2016:1025 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2016:2750 vendor-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1228283
- 75018 vdb-entry