In PCRE 8.41, after compiling, a pcretest load test PoC produces a crash overflow in the…
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-119 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In PCRE 8.41, after compiling, a pcretest load test PoC produces a crash overflow in the function match() in pcre_exec.c because of a self-recursive call. NOTE: third parties dispute the relevance of this report, noting that there are options that can be used to limit the amount of stack that is used
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
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
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Not affected: 10 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services
- Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 5
- Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6
- 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-2017-16231
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5hhr-8qw3-63p2
References
Exploit 2
More Pcre vulnerabilities
- TI-2015-02839 Heap-based buffer overflow in PCRE 8.34 through 8.37 and PCRE2 10.10 allows remote… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2016-02677 The compile_branch function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE 8.x before 8.39 and pcre2_compile.c… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2016-01176 The pcre_compile2 function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE 8.38 mishandles the… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2015-06911 The pcre_compile function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE before 8.38 mishandles certain [… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2015-04255 Heap-based buffer overflow in the find_fixedlength function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2019-15056 libpcre in PCRE before 8.43 allows a subject buffer over-read in JIT when UTF is… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2017-16231 · CVE Program
- CVE-2017-16231 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5hhr-8qw3-63p2 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2017-16231 · 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