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Vulnerability record · CVE-2015-8381 · published 2 December 2015

CVE-2015-8381: Pcre perl compatible regular expression library memory buffer overflow vulnerability

Pcre · Perl Compatible Regular Expression Library

The compile_regex function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE before 8.38 and pcre2_compile.c in PCRE2 before 10.2x mishandles the /(?J:(?|(:(?|(?'R')(\k'R')|((?'R')))H'Rk'Rf)|s(?'R'))))/ and /(?J:(?|(:(?|(?'R')(\z(?|(?'R')(\k'R')|((?'R')))k'R')|((?'R')))H'Ak'Rf)|s(?'R')))/ patterns, and related patterns with certain group references, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer overflow) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted regular expression, as demonstrated by a JavaScript RegExp object encountered by Konqueror.

7.5 CVSS 2.0 High EPSS 5.3% · top 7.7% CWE-119 · Memory buffer overflow
7.5CVSS 2.0 base score
5.3%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
18References, 6 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

The compile_regex function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE before 8.38 and pcre2_compile.c in PCRE2 before 10.2x mishandles the /(?J:(?|(:(?|(?'R')(\k'R')|((?'R')))H'Rk'Rf)|s(?'R'))))/ and /(?J:(?|(:(?|(?'R')(\z(?|(?'R')(\k'R')|((?'R')))k'R')|((?'R')))H'Ak'Rf)|s(?'R')))/ patterns, and related patterns with certain group references, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer overflow) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted regular expression, as demonstrated by a JavaScript RegExp object encountered by Konqueror.

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2750.html
http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre/code/trunk/ChangeLog?view=markup ExploitRelease Notes
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/11/29/1 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/76187 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1132
https://bto.bluecoat.com/security-advisory/sa128 Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1667 Exploit
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1672 Exploit
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201607-02
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2750.html
http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre/code/trunk/ChangeLog?view=markup ExploitRelease Notes
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/11/29/1 Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/76187 Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1132
https://bto.bluecoat.com/security-advisory/sa128 Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1667 Exploit
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1672 Exploit
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201607-02

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Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2015-8381), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.