CVEvulnerability

CVE-2026-81722

8.7 HIGH Published 2026-08-27 Modified 2026-08-31 Official page ↗
Status
Analyzed
Published
2026-08-27
Last modified
2026-08-31
Assigner
[email protected]
CVSS 4.0 ([email protected])
8.7 HIGH — CVSS: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
CVSS 3.1 ([email protected])
7.5 HIGH — CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weaknesses
CWE-407

Description

nltk PorterStemmer in versions <= 3.10.2 (fixed in 3.10.3) contains an inefficient-algorithmic-complexity denial of service in PorterStemmer.stem(). The _is_consonant() helper walks backward over the entire run of trailing 'y' characters on every call, and _measure() invokes it for each stem position, causing O(n^2) behavior. A single ~20-50 KB untrusted token consisting of a long run of the letter 'y' followed by a matching suffix (e.g., 'ness') can pin a CPU core for seconds to minutes, causing availability impact.

Affected configurations

• nltk nltk (< 3.10.3)

Related

Weakness · CWE (1)

  • CWE-407 Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity weakness

References