CVE Intelligence
Medium Memory corruption exploit reference

CVE-2026-89160 — Out-of-bounds Read in Pcre Pcre2

PCRE2 before 10.48 has a pcre2_match out-of-bounds read during the PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF matching of an invalid UTF subject.

Published Sep 11, 2026 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database · CNA: cve@mitre.org

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
—
No EPSS score.
Affects
Pcre
Pcre2
CVSS base
6.5
Medium · 2 source(s)

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented mitigation — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Pcre Pcre2).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. Apply the documented mitigations until a definitive fix is available.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Pcre Pcre2 ≥ 10.34 and < 10.48version 10.48-rc1 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 3.9 2.5 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
3.7 CVSS 3.1 Low 2.2 1.4 cve@mitre.org via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 6.5 (NVD (NIST)) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSendpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 6.5
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Sep 11, 2026 · cve@mitre.org

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

2 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Pcre
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-125
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-89162 Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres in Pcre Pcre2 Sep 11, 2026
  • CVE-2026-89161 In PCRE2 before 10.48, pcre2_jit_match mishandles a previously copied subject being… Sep 11, 2026
  • CVE-2026-89156 Out-of-bounds Read in Pcre Pcre2 Sep 11, 2026
  • CVE-2026-89157 Integer Overflow or Wraparound in Pcre Pcre2 Sep 11, 2026
  • CVE-2026-89158 Integer Overflow or Wraparound in Pcre Pcre2 Sep 11, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No FIRST EPSS score.
  • No CISA SSVC assessment.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-89160 is "Out-of-bounds Read in Pcre Pcre2", rated Medium. It affects Pcre2 (Pcre); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.5 describes technical severity. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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