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9.8
CRITICAL CVSS 3.0
CVE-2016-3191
Apache PCRE Remote Code Execution Buffer Overflow
Description

The compile_branch function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE 8.x before 8.39 and pcre2_compile.c in PCRE2 before 10.22 mishandles patterns containing an (*ACCEPT) substring in conjunction with nested parentheses, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (stack-based buffer overflow) via a crafted regular expression, as demonstrated by a JavaScript RegExp object encountered by Konqueror, aka ZDI-CAN-3542.

INFO

Published Date :

March 17, 2016, 11:59 p.m.

Last Modified :

April 12, 2025, 10:46 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !

Source :

[email protected]
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2016-3191 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Pcre pcre
2 Pcre pcre2
: Total Affected Vendor : 1 | Products : 2
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 2.0 HIGH [email protected]
CVSS 3.0 CRITICAL [email protected]
Solution
This vulnerability affects PCRE and PCRE2 packages and allows for remote code execution.
  • Update the affected PCRE packages to resolve the vulnerability.
  • Update affected PCRE2 packages.
  • For SUSE systems, use YaST online_update or zypper patch to apply the security updates.
  • For RHEL systems, update the affected packages based on the relevant RHSA guidance.
Public PoC/Exploit Available at Github

CVE-2016-3191 has a 7 public PoC/Exploit available at Github. Go to the Public Exploits tab to see the list.

References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to CVE-2016-3191.

URL Resource
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1025.html
http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre2?view=revision&revision=489
http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre?view=revision&revision=1631
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1023886
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/84810
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1132
https://bto.bluecoat.com/security-advisory/sa128
https://bugs.debian.org/815920
https://bugs.debian.org/815921
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1791 Exploit
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1311503
https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2016-18
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1025.html
http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre2?view=revision&revision=489
http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre?view=revision&revision=1631
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1023886
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/84810
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1132
https://bto.bluecoat.com/security-advisory/sa128
https://bugs.debian.org/815920
https://bugs.debian.org/815921
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1791 Exploit
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1311503
https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2016-18
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2016-3191 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2016-3191 weaknesses.

CAPEC-8: Buffer Overflow in an API Call Buffer Overflow in an API Call CAPEC-9: Buffer Overflow in Local Command-Line Utilities Buffer Overflow in Local Command-Line Utilities CAPEC-10: Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables CAPEC-14: Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow CAPEC-24: Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow CAPEC-42: MIME Conversion MIME Conversion CAPEC-44: Overflow Binary Resource File Overflow Binary Resource File CAPEC-45: Buffer Overflow via Symbolic Links Buffer Overflow via Symbolic Links CAPEC-46: Overflow Variables and Tags Overflow Variables and Tags CAPEC-47: Buffer Overflow via Parameter Expansion Buffer Overflow via Parameter Expansion CAPEC-100: Overflow Buffers Overflow Buffers CAPEC-123: Buffer Manipulation Buffer Manipulation

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

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Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2016-3191 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

Results are limited to the first 20 news articles due to potential performance issues.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2016-3191 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • CVE Modified by af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

    Nov. 21, 2024

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1025.html
    Added Reference http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre?view=revision&revision=1631
    Added Reference http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre2?view=revision&revision=489
    Added Reference http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
    Added Reference http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/84810
    Added Reference http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1023886
    Added Reference https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1132
    Added Reference https://bto.bluecoat.com/security-advisory/sa128
    Added Reference https://bugs.debian.org/815920
    Added Reference https://bugs.debian.org/815921
    Added Reference https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1791
    Added Reference https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1311503
    Added Reference https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2016-18
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    May. 14, 2024

    Action Type Old Value New Value
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Jan. 05, 2018

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1132 [No Types Assigned]
    Added Reference http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1025.html [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Mar. 01, 2017

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2016-18 [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 28, 2016

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://bto.bluecoat.com/security-advisory/sa128 [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Dec. 15, 2016

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1023886 [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Nov. 28, 2016

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/84810 [No Types Assigned]
  • CVE Modified by [email protected]

    Oct. 04, 2016

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
  • Modified Analysis by [email protected]

    Mar. 21, 2016

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added CPE Configuration Configuration 1 OR *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.38:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.37:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.36:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.34:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.33:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.32:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.31:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.30:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.21:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.02:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.01:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre:8.00:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:pcre:pcre2:10.21:*:*:*:*:*:*:* (and previous)
    Added CVSS V2 (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P)
    Added CVSS V3 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Changed Reference Type https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1791 No Types Assigned https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1791 Exploit
    Added CWE CWE-119
  • Initial Analysis by [email protected]

    Mar. 21, 2016

    Action Type Old Value New Value
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.
Vulnerability Scoring Details
Base CVSS Score: 9.8
Attack Vector
Attack Complexity
Privileges Required
User Interaction
Scope
Confidentiality Impact
Integrity Impact
Availability Impact
Base CVSS Score: 7.5
Access Vector
Access Complexity
Authentication
Confidentiality Impact
Integrity Impact
Availability Impact
Exploit Prediction

EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days.

11.34 }} 5.05%

score

0.93293

percentile