CVE-2026-86145 Memory corruption in PCRE2
An out-of-bounds write in PCRE2 allows attackers to execute code or cause denial of service via crafted regex patterns when specific heap limits are set.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-86145?
CVE-2026-86145 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in PCRE2, published on 5 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
PCRE2 before 10.48 allows a pcre2_dfa_match out-of-bounds write because reuse of a cached workspace block, in a recursive DFA matching workspace, lacks a size check (even though a newly allocated block, for the same purpose, does have a size check). This outcome requires an attacker-controlled regular expression, or a recursive pattern in conjunction with a small heap limit (this can be set through the API).
Weakness: CWE-424
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-86145?
How do I fix CVE-2026-86145?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-86145 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-86145 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2026-86145, AZL-99726, BELL-CVE-2026-86145, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-86145, ECHO-ce2f-65de-bd83, GHSA-3r4p-g7gg-ppmf and 8 more.