# CVE-2015-2327: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via crafted regular expressions in the PCRE library, affecting applications that process untrusted regex patterns.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Dec 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-2327, GHSA-hvfc-r626-888m, RHBA-2015:2142, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-2327

## What is CVE-2015-2327?

CVE-2015-2327 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 2 Dec 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

PCRE before 8.36 mishandles the /(((a\2)|(a*)\g<-1>))*/ pattern and related patterns with certain internal recursive back references, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted regular expression, as demonstrated by a JavaScript RegExp object encountered by Konqueror.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-2327?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pcre` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |
| `pcre-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:8.32-15.el7 |

Products: Pcre Perl Compatible Regular Expression Library.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-2327?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-2327 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-2327 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2015-8394](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8394/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-8381](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8381/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-8384](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8384/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-8392](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8392/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-8395](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8395/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-2327 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-2327 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 2 Dec 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-2327 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2015-2327/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2327/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-2327
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-2327
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-2327

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2327/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.