PCRE 7.8 and 8.32 through 8.37, and PCRE2 10.10 mishandle group empty matches, which…
Priority MEDIUM 42CWE-119Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 17 fixed, 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-119 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
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_])?)+)+$/.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.06169 93rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Partial Red Hat: 3 advisoriesRed Hat: 17 fixed, 4 without a fix
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 10
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre2:10.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 10.10 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:7.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.8 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.32:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.32 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.33:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.33 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.34:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.34 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.35 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.36:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.36 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.37:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.37 | Vulnerable | PCRE |
| cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powerkvm:2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.1 | Vulnerable | IBM |
| cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powerkvm:3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.1 | Vulnerable | IBM |
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre2:10.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 10.10 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:7.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.8 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.32:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.32 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.33:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.33 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.34:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.34 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.35 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.36:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.36 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.37:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.37 Vulnerable ·PCRE
- cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powerkvm:2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.1 Vulnerable ·IBM
- cpe:2.3:a:ibm:powerkvm:3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.1 Vulnerable ·IBM
Remediation
Red Hat 3 advisories
- RHSA-2016:2750 Released 2016-11-15 · Red Hat rating Moderaterh-php56 security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) rh-php56-2.3-1.el6, rh-php56-php-5.6.25-1.el6, rh-php56-php-bcmath-5.6.25-1.el6 +30
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) rh-php56-2.3-1.el7, rh-php56-php-5.6.25-1.el7, rh-php56-php-bcmath-5.6.25-1.el7 +28
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.7) rh-php56-2.3-1.el6, rh-php56-php-5.6.25-1.el6, rh-php56-php-bcmath-5.6.25-1.el6 +30
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.2) rh-php56-2.3-1.el7, rh-php56-php-5.6.25-1.el7, rh-php56-php-bcmath-5.6.25-1.el7 +28
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.3) rh-php56-2.3-1.el7, rh-php56-php-5.6.25-1.el7, rh-php56-php-bcmath-5.6.25-1.el7 +28
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) rh-php56-2.3-1.el6, rh-php56-php-5.6.25-1.el6, rh-php56-php-bcmath-5.6.25-1.el6 +30
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) rh-php56-2.3-1.el7, rh-php56-php-5.6.25-1.el7, rh-php56-php-bcmath-5.6.25-1.el7 +28
- RHSA-2016:1132 Released 2016-05-26 · Red Hat rating Importantrh-mariadb100-mariadb security update
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el6 +6
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el7 +6
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.6) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el6 +6
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.7) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el6 +6
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.1) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el7 +6
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.2) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el7 +6
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el6, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el6 +6
- Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) rh-mariadb100-mariadb-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-bench-1:10.0.25-4.el7, rh-mariadb100-mariadb-common-1:10.0.25-4.el7 +6
- RHSA-2016:1025 Released 2016-05-11 · Red Hat rating Importantpcre security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) pcre-8.32-15.el7_2.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) pcre-devel-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-static-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-tools-8.32-15.el7_2.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) pcre-8.32-15.el7_2.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) pcre-devel-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-static-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-tools-8.32-15.el7_2.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) pcre-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-8.32-15.el7_2.1.ppc, pcre-devel-8.32-15.el7_2.1 +1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) pcre-static-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-static-8.32-15.el7_2.1.ppc, pcre-tools-8.32-15.el7_2.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) pcre-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-devel-8.32-15.el7_2.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) pcre-static-8.32-15.el7_2.1, pcre-tools-8.32-15.el7_2.1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 3 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Software Collections | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1025 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132, RHSA-2016:2750 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132, RHSA-2016:2750 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132, RHSA-2016:2750 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.1) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.2) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132, RHSA-2016:2750 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.3) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:2750 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132, RHSA-2016:2750 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1132, RHSA-2016:2750 |
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Directory Server 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 1
- Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 2
- Red Hat Software Collections
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2015-3217
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-pv36-98fw-pc7h
References
Advisory 4
Sources
- CVE-2015-3217 · CVE Program
- CVE-2015-3217 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-pv36-98fw-pc7h · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2015-3217 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences