Heap-based buffer overflow in PCRE2 - #VU146524
Published: August 31, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU146524
CSH Severity: High
CVSS v4: 8.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: N/A
CWE-ID: CWE-122
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to heap-based buffer overflow in pcre2_dfa_match() when processing an attacker-supplied regular expression with recursive patterns under a low heap limit. A remote attacker can supply a specially crafted regular expression to cause a denial of service.
Exploitation requires the application to use DFA matching, and the heap limit can be lowered within the pattern using the (*LIMIT_HEAP=...) control verb. Control of the subject or match context is not required.
Affected software
PCRE2
Remediation
Install security update from vendor's website.
PCRE2 - update to 10.48