CVE-2026-126300

NLTK from 3.2.5 before 3.10.4 CPU Exhaustion via TreebankWordTokenizer.span_tokenize

Published Nov 13, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 6.9 Medium EPSS n/a KEV · Not listed

Description

NLTK from 3.2.5 before 3.10.4 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in TreebankWordTokenizer.span_tokenize that allows remote attackers to cause quadratic CPU consumption through repeated list.pop(0) calls. Attackers can submit long runs of double-quote characters to services span-tokenizing untrusted text, exhausting a CPU core and degrading availability.

Affected Products

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions

nltk

unaffected

Version	Status	Constraints
`3.2.5`	affected	< 3.10.4
`3.10.4`	unaffected	—

No data.

No data available yet.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

Advisories

No advisories available

Metrics

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required None

Attack Requirements None

User Interaction None

Vulnerable System Confidentiality Impact None

Vulnerable System Integrity Impact None

Vulnerable System Availability Impact Low

Subsequent System Confidentiality Impact None

Subsequent System Integrity Impact None

Subsequent System Availability Impact None

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required None

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact None

Integrity Impact None

Availability Impact Low

User Interaction None

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

No EPSS score available.

Key SSVC decision points have not yet been added.

References

Link	Providers
https://github.com/nltk/nltk/security/advisories/GHSA-ffr9-mgrr-wcvr
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-from-3.2.5-before-3.10.4-cpu-exhaustion-via-treebankwordtokenizer-span-tokenize

History

Nov 13, 2026 9:45 AM Description updated. Title updated. First appearance in the feed. Weaknesses updated. Affected versions updated. Affected vendors updated. Added references. Scoring metrics updated View changes

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Description		NLTK from 3.2.5 before 3.10.4 contains an algorithmic complexity vulnerability in TreebankWordTokenizer.span_tokenize that allows remote attackers to cause quadratic CPU consumption through repeated list.pop(0) calls. Attackers can submit long runs of double-quote characters to services span-tokenizing untrusted text, exhausting a CPU core and degrading availability.
Title		NLTK from 3.2.5 before 3.10.4 CPU Exhaustion via TreebankWordTokenizer.span_tokenize
First Time appeared		Nltk Nltk nltk
Weaknesses		CWE-407
CPEs		cpe:2.3:a:nltk:nltk::::::::
Vendors & Products		Nltk Nltk nltk
References		https://github.com/nltk/nltk/security/advisories/GHSA-ffr9-mgrr-wcvr https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-from-3.2.5-before-3.10.4-cpu-exhaustion-via-treebankwordtokenizer-span-tokenize
Metrics		cvssV3_1 `{'score': 5.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}` cvssV4_0 `{'score': 6.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}`