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BoostApplication

CVE-2008-0172

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-01-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The get_repeat_type function in basic_regex_creator.hpp in the Boost regex library (aka Boost.Regex) in Boost 1.33 and 1.34 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL dereference and crash) via an invalid regular expression.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The get_repeat_type function in basic_regex_creator.hpp in Boost.Regex versions 1.33 and 1.34 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when processing certain invalid regular expressions, allowing context-dependent attackers to crash applications via malformed regex input.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Boost 1.34.1 or later, or implement input validation to reject malformed regular expressions before passing them to the Boost.Regex library.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
BoostApplication
Affected:= 1.33= 1.34

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Boost.Regex version
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep libboost-regex' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'rpm -qa | grep boost-regex' (RHEL/CentOS) or check /usr/include/boost/version.hpp for BOOST_VERSION macro
    Affected if The installed version is 1.33.0 or 1.34.0 (check version.hpp for values 103300 or 103400)
  2. Locate Boost.Regex header files
    Search for basic_regex_creator.hpp in include paths: 'find /usr -name basic_regex_creator.hpp 2>/dev/null'
    Affected if The file exists and originates from Boost 1.33 or 1.34 sources
  3. Check application for Boost.Regex usage
    Grep source code for '#include <boost/regex.hpp>' or link against libboost_regex: 'ldd <executable> | grep boost_regex'
    Affected if The application links against or includes Boost.Regex library
  4. Identify regex input sources
    Review code for regex compilation calls (regex_match, regex_search, regex_replace) and trace whether input comes from untrusted sources like user input, files, or network
    Affected if Application passes external/malformed input to Boost.Regex functions without prior validation
  5. Test for NULL dereference behavior
    Pass known malformed regex patterns to the application or library (e.g., patterns with specific repeat syntax that trigger the vulnerability) and monitor for crash
    Affected if The application crashes when processing specific invalid regex patterns on vulnerable versions

You are affected if Boost.Regex version 1.33 or 1.34 is in use AND your application processes untrusted or malformed regular expressions through Boost.Regex functions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Boost 1.34.1 or later, or implement input validation to reject malformed regular expressions before passing them to the Boost.Regex library.

Fix this in Boost Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-0172 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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