PYSEC-2026-3738

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Import Source
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/blob/main/vulns/nltk/PYSEC-2026-3738.yaml
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/PYSEC-2026-3738
Aliases
Published
2026-08-27T17:21:02Z
Modified
2026-09-01T09:15:04Z
Severity
  • 8.7 (High) CVSS_V4 - 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 Calculator
Summary
[none]
Details

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.

References

Affected packages

PyPI / nltk

Package

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
3.10.3

Affected versions

2.*
2.0.1rc2-git
2.0b4
2.0b5
2.0b6
2.0b7
2.0b8
2.0b9
2.0.1rc1
2.0.1rc3
2.0.1rc4
2.0.1
2.0.2
2.0.3
2.0.4
2.0.5
0.*
0.8
0.9
0.9.3
0.9.4
0.9.5
0.9.6
0.9.7
0.9.8
0.9.9
3.*
3.0.0b1
3.0.0b2
3.0.0
3.0.1
3.0.2
3.0.3
3.0.4
3.0.5
3.1
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
3.2.5
3.3
3.4
3.4.1
3.4.2
3.4.3
3.4.4
3.4.5
3.5b1
3.5
3.6
3.6.1
3.6.2
3.6.3
3.6.4
3.6.5
3.6.6
3.6.7
3.7
3.8
3.8.1
3.9b1
3.9
3.9.1
3.9.2
3.9.3
3.9.4
3.10.0
3.10.1
3.10.2

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/blob/main/vulns/nltk/PYSEC-2026-3738.yaml"