---
title: "CVE-2014-8964\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the
  desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.
url: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-8964?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

# CVE-2014-8964

Publication date 16 December 2014

Last updated 24 July 2024

---

Ubuntu priority

**Low**

[Why this priority?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#priority )

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## Description

Heap-based buffer overflow in PCRE 8.36 and earlier allows remote attackers
to cause a denial of service (crash) or have other unspecified impact via a
crafted regular expression, related to an assertion that allows zero
repeats.

[Read the notes from the security team](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-8964?format=md#notes)

## Status

Show unmaintained releases

| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| mariadb-10.0 | 15.10 wily | Fixed 10.0.20-0ubuntu0.15.04.1 |
| 15.04 vivid | Fixed 10.0.20-0ubuntu0.15.04.1 |
| 14.10 utopic | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| pcre3 | 15.10 wily | Not affected |
| 15.04 vivid | Not affected |
| 14.10 utopic | Ignored end of life |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Fixed 1:8.31-2ubuntu2.1 |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not affected |
| 10.04 LTS lucid | Ignored end of life |

---

* [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)
* [What do statuses mean?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#statuses)
* [Patch details](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-8964?format=md#patch-details)

## Notes

---

### [seth-arnold](https://launchpad.net/~seth-arnold)

exploiting this requires allowing untrusted input as the regular
expression; that's usually not allowed for performance reasons but the
regex engine shouldn't allow overflows on untrusted inputs.

---

### [mdeslaur](https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur)

reproducer in upstream bug
does not reproduce in precise

### Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)

| Package | Patch details |
| --- | --- |
| pcre3 | * Upstream:   <http://www.exim.org/viewvc/pcre2?revision=154&view=revision> * Upstream:   <http://vcs.pcre.org/pcre?view=revision&revision=1513> * Vendor:   <https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1166147#c8> |

## References

* [MITRE](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2014-8964)
* [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-8964)
* [Launchpad](https://launchpad.net/bugs/cve/CVE-2014-8964)
* [Debian](https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2014-8964)

### Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

+ [USN-2694-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2694-1)
+ PCRE vulnerabilities
+ 29 July 2015

### Other references

* <https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-8964>