NLTK before 3.10.3 contains a regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) vulnerability in the tgrep module. The _tgrep_node_action function compiles user-supplied regular expressions embedded in /regex/ pattern nodes and executes them via re.search against tree node labels without any validation or timeout. An attacker who controls the tgrep pattern (e.g., via tgrep_positions() or tgrep_compile() exposed to external input) can supply a pattern that triggers catastrophic backtracking, causing indefinite CPU saturation that blocks the Python process.
Advisories

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Fixes

Solution

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Workaround

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History

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description NLTK before 3.10.3 contains a regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) vulnerability in the tgrep module. The _tgrep_node_action function compiles user-supplied regular expressions embedded in /regex/ pattern nodes and executes them via re.search against tree node labels without any validation or timeout. An attacker who controls the tgrep pattern (e.g., via tgrep_positions() or tgrep_compile() exposed to external input) can supply a pattern that triggers catastrophic backtracking, causing indefinite CPU saturation that blocks the Python process.
Title NLTK 3.10.2 Regular Expression Denial of Service via tgrep
First Time appeared Nltk
Nltk nltk
Weaknesses CWE-1333
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:nltk:nltk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Nltk
Nltk nltk
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}


Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: VulnCheck

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-26T12:52:23.513Z

Reserved: 2026-08-25T23:15:39.155Z

Link: CVE-2026-80206

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-08-26T12:52:19.653Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-26T11:16:40.103

Modified: 2026-08-26T13:19:24.827

Link: CVE-2026-80206

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-26T12:30:05Z

Weaknesses