CVE catalog

CVE-2026-72818

The URLS regular expression in nltk/tokenize/casual.py, compiled into TweetTokenizer.WORD_RE and applied by TweetTokenizer.tokenize, contains a naked-domain branch whose domain-label prefix [a-z0-9]+(

[CVE catalog]

Severity
High · CVSS 8.7CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Published
Updated
Source
[NVD] · [CVE record]
EPSS
0.74% · Oct 25, 2026

The URLS regular expression in nltk/tokenize/casual.py, compiled into TweetTokenizer.WORD_RE and applied by TweetTokenizer.tokenize, contains a naked-domain branch whose domain-label prefix [a-z0-9]+(?:[.\-][a-z0-9]+)* is unbounded. Input consisting of many alternating label separators can be partitioned in exponentially many ways, and because the branch also requires a trailing top-level domain that such input never supplies, the engine explores those partitions before failing at each offset. A few kilobytes of input therefore consumes seconds to minutes of single-threaded CPU, and the HANG_RE substitution performed before matching does not collapse the pattern. TweetTokenizer is intended for tokenizing untrusted social-media text, so any service that applies it, or the module-level casual_tokenize, to submitted text can be stalled per request without authentication. Version 3.10.1 bounds the label repetition.

Vulnerable and fixed packages

Distribution-reported package versions and fixes. These do not depend on matching against the OpenFactory package catalog.

DistributionPackageReleaseVersionStatus
Debiannltksid3.10.3-1fixed
Debiannltkforky3.10.3-1fixed
Debiannltktrixie3.9.1-2vulnerable
Debiannltkbookworm3.8-1vulnerable
PyPInltkNot reported3.10.1fixed
PyPInltkNot reported3.10.1fixed

Fixed-version evidence

DistributionPackageTypeReleaseFixed versionUrgencyOriginBugs
Debiannltksourcesid3.10.3-1not yet assignedNot reportedNot reported
Debiannltksourceforky3.10.3-1not yet assignedNot reportedNot reported
Debiannltksourcetrixie(unfixed)not yet assignedNot reportedNot reported
Debiannltksourcebookworm(unfixed)not yet assignedNot reportedNot reported
PyPInltkPyPINot reported3.10.1Not reportedGHSA-QX2G-XRX7-VFH8Not reported
PyPInltkPyPINot reported3.10.1Not reportedPYSEC-2026-3870Not reported

Notes

[trixie] nltk: Minor issue [bookworm] nltk: Minor issue

OpenFactory catalog packages

[Debian 12 (Bookworm)]

  • [python3-nltk]Affected

    Source package: [nltk]

    Details (2)
    • 3.8-1 · all · bookworm

      Affected

      nvd · nltk · debian · bookworm; nvd · nltk · debian · 12

    • 3.8-1 · all · bookworm

      Affected

      nvd · nltk · debian · bookworm; nvd · nltk · debian · 12

[Debian 13 (Trixie)]

  • [python3-nltk]Affected

    Source package: [nltk]

    Details (2)
    • 3.9.1-2 · all · trixie

      Affected

      nvd · nltk · debian · 13

    • 3.9.1-2 · all · trixie

      Affected

      nvd · nltk · debian · 13

Observed:

References