CVE-2026-61619

OWASP CRS: ReDoS in shared unix-shell-evasion regex-assembly include (12 RCE rules) - PCRE2 backtracking-limit exhaustion causes detection bypass and CPU DoS

Published Nov 11, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 8.8 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
The OWASP core rule set (CRS) is a set of generic attack detection rules for use with compatible web application firewalls. Prior to versions 3.3.10, 4.25.1, and 4.28.0, regular-expression denial of service (ReDoS) affects a shared regex-assembly include used to build 12 Unix RCE detection rules in CRS v4, and the same ambiguous pattern was present in the manually-assembled regexes in 4 rules in CRS v3.3. With a single, unauthenticated, crafted request, the generated pattern drives PCRE2 past its backtracking limit. When PCRE2 exceeds that limit, the @rx operator returns an error rather than a match result, which results in detection bypass and CPU denial of service. This issue has been patched in versions 3.3.10, 4.25.1, and 4.28.0.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Coreruleset
Coreruleset coreruleset
Vendors & Products Coreruleset
Coreruleset coreruleset
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description The OWASP core rule set (CRS) is a set of generic attack detection rules for use with compatible web application firewalls. Prior to versions 3.3.10, 4.25.1, and 4.28.0, regular-expression denial of service (ReDoS) affects a shared regex-assembly include used to build 12 Unix RCE detection rules in CRS v4, and the same ambiguous pattern was present in the manually-assembled regexes in 4 rules in CRS v3.3. With a single, unauthenticated, crafted request, the generated pattern drives PCRE2 past its backtracking limit. When PCRE2 exceeds that limit, the @rx operator returns an error rather than a match result, which results in detection bypass and CPU denial of service. This issue has been patched in versions 3.3.10, 4.25.1, and 4.28.0.
Title OWASP CRS: ReDoS in shared unix-shell-evasion regex-assembly include (12 RCE rules) - PCRE2 backtracking-limit exhaustion causes detection bypass and CPU DoS
Weaknesses CWE-1333
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
Nov 12, 2026, 5:57 PM
Reserved
Jul 10, 2026, 5:36 PM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Nov 11, 2026, 6:19 PM
Modified
Nov 12, 2026, 10:09 PM