Index: src/java/org/apache/ivy/latest/LatestRevisionStrategy.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/ivy/latest/LatestRevisionStrategy.java	(revision 494984)
+++ src/java/org/apache/ivy/latest/LatestRevisionStrategy.java	(working copy)
@@ -74,6 +74,15 @@
         public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
             String rev1 = ((ArtifactInfo)o1).getRevision();
             String rev2 = ((ArtifactInfo)o2).getRevision();
+
+            final String INTERVAL_PATTERN = "^(\\[|\\]|\\().*,.*(\\[|\\]|\\))$";
+            if (rev1.matches(INTERVAL_PATTERN)) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid revision: " + rev1);
+            }
+            else if (rev2.matches(INTERVAL_PATTERN)) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid revision: " + rev2);
+            }
+            
             if (rev1.startsWith("latest")) {
                 return 1;
             }