PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject
PCRE · PCRE2
Official source article: GitHub GHSA-9QWW-PWC4-77QQ ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
3.7LowCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Within 7 days
Low technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Published severityLow→Operational priority:Medium, raised one band.upgradedsince 15 Sep 2026
Evidence used
No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
EPSS is 0.27% for the current model date.
Compensating controls
Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.
Verification
Confirm that the asset runs PCRE PCRE2 and falls inside the recorded affected range.
Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Distribution package intelligence
Release-specific package status
Alpine, Debian, ubuntu findings are scoped to the named distribution, release and source package. An absent finding does not mean a package is unaffected.
6 package states
Repository candidate not checked
A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.
Distribution release
Source package
Vendor state
Fixed version
Evidence
Alpine v3.23v3.23 · main
pcre2
Vendor fix publishedAlpine records a security fix at this version. An absent entry does not mean the package is unaffected.
Structured product status and remediation from the issuing vendor. Product-state explanations are always visible; large lists can be searched or downloaded.
The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.
libpcre2-16-0 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1
libpcre2-32-0 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1
libpcre2-8-0 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1
libpcre2-posix2 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1
pcre2 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1
pcre2-devel as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1
libpcre2-16-0 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2
libpcre2-32-0 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2
libpcre2-8-0 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2
libpcre2-posix2 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2
pcre2 as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2
pcre2-devel as component of SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2
Summary
PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject.
Remediation
To install this SUSE Security Update use the SUSE recommended installation methods like YaST online_update or "zypper patch".
CVE-2026-89160 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 3 · finalRed Hat Product Securitypcre2: PCRE2: Denial of Service via out-of-bounds read during invalid UTF matching
103 known affected
The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.
mariadb as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-backup as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-client-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-common as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-embedded as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-embedded-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-errmsg as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-gssapi-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-oqgraph-engine as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-pam as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
mariadb-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Summary
A flaw was found in PCRE2, a library for processing regular expressions. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing a specially crafted input that triggers an out-of-bounds read during pattern matching with invalid UTF (Unicode Transformation Format) characters. This could lead to a denial of service, making the affected system or application unavailable.
Remediation
For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://images.redhat.com/
Optional official sources
National CERT insights ?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.
Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.
Official European source
ENISA European Vulnerability Database
Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.
1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier
EUVD-2026-75945
No EUVD known-exploited evidence
PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject.
EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
3.7 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days
Low technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available
01
What, why and how
PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject.
What
PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject.
Why
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject.
Why
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No confirmed evidence
No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.Reference recorded
A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.
Likely attack path
a network path → Out-of-bounds Read → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness ?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read. The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
CVSS vector ?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CNoneConfidentiality impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ALowAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-75945Official EUVD mapping
PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject.
Official EUVD record ↗BSI · German · WID-SEC-2026-3334PCRE2 (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions): Mehrere Schwachstellen
Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in PCRE2 (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) ausnutzen, um Sicherheitsvorkehrungen zu umgehen, Speicher zu beschädigen, Informationen offenzulegen oder Denial-of-Service-Zustände herbeizuführen.
Official advisory ↗Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20260916Security Bulletin 16 Sep 2026
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 16 Sep 2026, published on 16 September 2026. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.
Official advisory ↗JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2026-034165pcre.orgのPCRE2における境界外読み取りに関する脆弱性
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
Status ?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
To install this SUSE Security Update use the SUSE recommended installation methods like YaST online_update or "zypper patch".
Workaround
A mitigation or workaround reference is available from the source linked below; validate it against the affected product and version.
Official vendor articles2 stored documents
Linked articles are downloaded and versioned as source evidence. A CVE mention or approved update relationship does not, by itself, verify a fix for every product branch.
Release PCRE2 10.48 · PCRE2Project/pcre2 · GitHub →Original publisher ↗Searchable text snapshot · Captured 26 Sep 2026PCRE2Project
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Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
PCRE2: 10.34 < 10.48 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
After
PCRE2: 10.34 < 10.48 · Fixed: For details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://images.redhat.com/
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
mariadb as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-backup as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-client-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-common as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-embedded as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-embedded-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-errmsg as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-gssapi-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-oqgraph-engine as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-pam as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server-galera as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb10.11.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-backup as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-client-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-common as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-embedded as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-embedded-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-errmsg as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-gssapi-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-oqgraph-engine as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-pam as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server-galera as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; and 74 more
After
mariadb as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-backup as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-client-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-common as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-embedded as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-embedded-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-errmsg as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-gssapi-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-oqgraph-engine as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-pam as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server-galera as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb10.11.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-backup as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-client-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-common as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-embedded as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-embedded-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-errmsg as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-gssapi-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-oqgraph-engine as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-pam as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server-galera as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; and 73 more · Fixed: pcre2-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@src as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-devel-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-devel-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-static-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-static-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-syntax-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@noarch@public-hummingbird-aarch64-rpms as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-syntax-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@noarch@public-hummingbird-x86_64-rpms as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-tools-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-tools-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-utf16-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-utf16-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-utf32-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@aarch64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; pcre2-utf32-0:10.48-0.1.hum1@x86_64 as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
pcre2.src as a component of Red Hat Hardened Images; openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8 as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4; openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
After
mariadb as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-backup as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-client-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-common as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-embedded as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-embedded-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-errmsg as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-gssapi-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-oqgraph-engine as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-pam as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server-galera as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-server-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb-test as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb10.11.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-backup as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-client-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-common as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-embedded as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-embedded-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-errmsg as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-gssapi-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-oqgraph-engine as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-pam as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server-galera as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; mariadb11.8-server-utils as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10; and 74 more
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
BlackTreeCVE Intelligence