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  5. CVE-2026-126299

CVE-2026-126299: NLTK: Quadratic-time CPU denial of service in CCG lexicon parser (fromstring) on wide bracket bodies and operator chains

November 14, 2026

The public CCG lexicon parser nltk.ccg.lexicon.fromstring parses caller-influenced lexicon text with two pure-Python loops whose cost is quadratic in the input width. A service that parses an untrusted CCG lexicon string can be driven into tens of seconds of single-threaded CPU by a few-megabyte input, starving the request worker. No authentication or user interaction is required.

References

  • github.com/advisories/GHSA-89p3-fcch-88ph
  • github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/0bb5b947bd235b950cf2f90e893a498e16da0fe3
  • github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/cf12a5e6a
  • github.com/nltk/nltk/pull/3944
  • github.com/nltk/nltk/releases/tag/v3.10.4
  • github.com/nltk/nltk/security/advisories/GHSA-89p3-fcch-88ph
  • nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-126299
  • www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-before-3.10.4-quadratic-time-denial-of-service-via-ccg-lexicon-fromstring

Code Behaviors & Features

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Affected versions

All versions before 3.10.4

Fixed versions

  • 3.10.4

Solution

Upgrade to version 3.10.4 or above.

Impact 7.5 HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Learn more about CVSS

Weakness

  • CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
  • CWE-407: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity

Source file

pypi/nltk/CVE-2026-126299.yml

Spotted a mistake? Edit the file on GitLab.

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