Is CVE-2016-3191 actively exploited?

CVE-2016-3191 has no public evidence of in-the-wild exploitation as of 2025-04-12.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-3191?

CVE-2016-3191 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

How do I patch CVE-2016-3191?

Patch guidance is available from pcre security advisories. CVEDatabase generates AI-assisted remediation guidance on demand for CVE-2016-3191.

Fix CVE-2016-3191 - CRITICAL pcre pcre

Q: Which products are affected by CVE-2016-3191?

19 products: pcre pcre, pcre pcre, pcre pcre, pcre pcre, pcre pcre, and 14 more.

Description

The compile_branch function in pcre_compile.c in PCRE 8.x before 8.39 and pcre2_compile.c in PCRE2 before 10.22 mishandles patterns containing an (*ACCEPT) substring in conjunction with nested parentheses, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (stack-based buffer overflow) via a crafted regular expression, as demonstrated by a JavaScript RegExp object encountered by Konqueror, aka ZDI-CAN-3542.

CVSS Metrics

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector: network
Complexity: low
Privileges: none
User Action: none
Scope: unchanged
Confidentiality: high
Integrity: high
Availability: high
Weaknesses: CWE-119 · Memory Buffer Errors

Metadata

Primary Vendor: PCRE
Published: 3/17/2016
Last Modified: 4/12/2025
Source: NIST NVD
Note: Verify all details with official vendor sources before applying patches.

Affected Products

pcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcrepcre : pcre2

Remediation Guidance

Executive Summary

Cite this page

CVE-2016-3191. CVEDatabase.com. Retrieved 1 May 2026. https://cvedatabase.com/cve/CVE-2016-3191

View on NIST NVD

CVE-2016-3191 vulnerability