CVE-2026-55520
HIGHDescription
Protego is a pure-Python robots.txt parser with support for modern conventions. Prior to 0.6.2, protego._urlpattern._URLPattern._prepare_pattern_for_regex translates every asterisk in an Allow or Disallow directive into a lazy regular-expression wildcard, so a directive containing many asterisks creates exponential backtracking. After protego.Protego.parse processes a crafted robots.txt file, protego.Protego.can_fetch can spend an attacker-controlled period matching a near-miss URL and deny service to the crawler. The vulnerable path is src/protego/_urlpattern.py in the _URLPattern match logic. This issue is fixed in version 0.6.2.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v4 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/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
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 30% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-400 (Resource Exhaustion) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-44487 | High | 7.5 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2021-44228 | Critical | 10.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2011-3192 | High | 7.8 | 99% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-11478 | Medium | 5.3 | 93% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-21547 | High | 7.5 | 89% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-25617 | Medium | 5.3 | 89% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-55520?
Upgrade python-protego on debian unstable to 0.6.2+dfsg-1 or later.
Is CVE-2026-55520 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-55520 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.37% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 30% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-55520?
CVE-2026-55520 has a CVSS v4 base score of 7.1, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-55520 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for python-protego (Debian). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2026-55520
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-08-28.