php: DoS (memory exhaustion, application crash) via crafted function definition
Published May 31, 2013
7.5
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 2.83%
Description
The Zend Engine in PHP before 5.4.16 RC1, and 5.5.0 before RC2, does not properly determine whether a parser error occurred, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and application crash) via a crafted function definition, as demonstrated by an attack within a shared web-hosting environment. NOTE: the vendor's http://php.net/security-note.php page says "for critical security situations you should be using OS-level security by running multiple web servers each as their own user id.
Affected products
No data.
Configuration 1
- ≤ 5.4.15
- 5.4.0
- 5.4.1
- 5.4.2
- 5.4.3
- 5.4.4
- 5.4.5
- 5.4.6
- 5.4.7
- 5.4.8
- 5.4.9
- 5.4.10
- 5.4.11
- 5.4.12
- 5.4.12
- 5.4.12
- 5.4.13
- 5.4.13
- 5.4.14
- 5.4.14
Configuration 2
- ≤ 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
- 5.5.0
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
php
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
php53
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
php
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | php | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | php53 | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | php | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
We do not consider memory safety hazards caused by malformed php scripts as a security issue. Also (as per upstream) OS-level security should be used to protect systems from memory exhaustion caused by php applications.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (14 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 2.83% (0.02832) | 86.13th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 2.83% (0.02832) | 84.74th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.68% (0.00684) | 69.98th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.30% (0.00300) | 70.34th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 24, 2024 | 0.16% (0.00162) | 52.76th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 10, 2024 | 0.14% (0.00135) | 48.46th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Apr 25, 2024 | 0.13% (0.00129) | 47.02th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 15, 2024 | 0.11% (0.00111) | 43.23th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.10% (0.00101) | 39.97th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.30% (0.00300) | 64.67th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 40.69th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 10, 2022 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 38.88th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 36.86th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 19.50th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (8)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-3735 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=64660 x_refsource_MISC
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=969996 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/php-5.4.16RC1/NEWS x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/php-5.5.0RC2/NEWS x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/fb58e69a84f4fde603a630d2c9df2fa3be16d846 x_refsource_CONFIRMExploitPatch
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-3735
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-3735
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-3735 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=64660 | x_refsource_MISC | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=969996 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/php-5.4.16RC1/NEWS | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://github.com/php/php-src/blob/php-5.5.0RC2/NEWS | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/fb58e69a84f4fde603a630d2c9df2fa3be16d846 | x_refsource_CONFIRMExploitPatch | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-3735 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-3735 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.