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MariaDBDatabase / datastore

CVE-2014-8964

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-12-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.18 or later.
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
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.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in PCRE 8.36 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause denial of service or potentially achieve other impact via a crafted regular expression. The flaw stems from an assertion failure that incorrectly handles zero-repeat patterns in regex processing, leading to heap memory corruption.

MitigationUpgrade PCRE library to version 8.37 or later to patch the assertion flaw. Applications using PCRE should be rebuilt against the updated library version and tested to ensure regex functionality remains intact.

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
MariaDBDatabase / datastore
Affected:>= 10.0.0, < 10.0.18
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 19= 20= 21
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.3= 7.4= 7.5= 7.6= 7.7
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.3= 7.4= 7.6= 7.7
Enterprise Linux Server TusOperating system
Affected:= 7.3= 7.6= 7.7
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 7.0

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. Check PCRE library version
    Run `pcregrep --version` or `pcre-config --version` to determine the installed PCRE version
    Affected if Version is 8.36 or earlier
  2. Check MariaDB server version
    Run `mysql --version` or check the mariadb-server package version via `rpm -qa | grep mariadb` or `dpkg -l | grep mariadb`
    Affected if MariaDB version is 10.0.0 through 10.0.17 (versions prior to 10.0.18)
  3. Verify PCRE library linked to database
    Run `ldd $(which mysqld) 2>/dev/null | grep pcre` or check via `strings /usr/sbin/mysqld | grep pcre`
    Affected if mysqld links to a PCRE library version 8.36 or earlier
  4. Check system PCRE package version on Fedora
    Run `rpm -qa | grep -i pcre` to list installed PCRE packages and their versions
    Affected if Any pcre package version is 8.36 or earlier
  5. Check PCRE package version on RHEL
    Run `rpm -qa | grep -i pcre` to list installed PCRE packages and their versions
    Affected if Any pcre or pcre2 package version corresponds to the vulnerable PCRE 8.36 or earlier library

You are affected if your system runs MariaDB 10.0.0-10.0.17 or has PCRE library version 8.36 or earlier installed and uses regex processing with potentially crafted patterns.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.0.18 or later
Fixed in 10.0.18
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PCRE library to version 8.37 or later to patch the assertion flaw. Applications using PCRE should be rebuilt against the updated library version and tested to ensure regex functionality remains intact.

Fix this in MariaDB Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.

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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-2014-8964 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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data