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.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2008-0172 is rated Moderate Risk (46.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.96%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).
| # | Date | Old EPSS score | New EPSS score | Delta (New - Old) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026-06-15 | 2.19% | 1.96% | -0.24% |
| 2 | 2026-02-11 | 1.93% | 2.19% | +0.26% |
| 3 | 2025-03-30 | — | 1.93% | — |
Full EPSS history (14 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | 2.0 | MEDIUM |
|
10.0 | 2.9 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
gentoo
|
normal | CVE-2008-0172: 1 GLSA(s) (200802-08), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/boost); latest impact normal. | https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2008-0172 |
redhat
|
low | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-0172 |
ubuntu
|
low | CVE-2008-0172 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (boost), 5 status rows across 5 suites (dapper, edgy, feisty, gutsy, upstream): released 4, needs-triage 1. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2008-0172 |
This issue did not affect the version of boost as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, Red Hat is aware of this issue and is tracking it via the following bug: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2008-0172 The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this issue as having low security impact, a future update may address this flaw.