# CVE-2007-1661: Perl-Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) library before 7.3 backtracks too far when matching certain input bytes against some regex pattern


- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 7 Nov 2007
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2007-1661, GHSA-759q-4q8w-5gfh

## What is CVE-2007-1661?

CVE-2007-1661 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 7 Nov 2007. 

### Official description

Perl-Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) library before 7.3 backtracks too far when matching certain input bytes against some regex patterns in non-UTF-8 mode, which allows context-dependent attackers to obtain sensitive information or cause a denial of service (crash), as demonstrated by the "\X?\d" and "\P{L}?\d" patterns.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2007-1661?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Apple Mac Os X, Apple Mac Os X Server, Pcre Perl-Compatible Regular Expression Library.

## How do I fix CVE-2007-1661?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2007-1661 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2007-1661 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Mac Os X

- [CVE-2014-7169](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-7169/): GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-6271](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-6271/): GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2012-1823](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1823/): PHP-CGI Query String Parameter (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-30713](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-30713/): Apple macOS Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-8526](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8526/): Apple macOS Use-After-Free (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2007-1661 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2007-1661 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 7 Nov 2007. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2007-1661 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Mac Os X. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1661/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1661/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2007-1661
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2007-1661
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2007-1661

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-1661/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.