CVE-2026-80206
MEDIUMDescription
NLTK before 3.10.3 contains a regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) vulnerability in the tgrep module. The _tgrep_node_action function compiles user-supplied regular expressions embedded in /regex/ pattern nodes and executes them via re.search against tree node labels without any validation or timeout. An attacker who controls the tgrep pattern (e.g., via tgrep_positions() or tgrep_compile() exposed to external input) can supply a pattern that triggers catastrophic backtracking, causing indefinite CPU saturation that blocks the Python process.
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 v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 18% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-1333 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-3364 | High | 7.5 | 44% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-8124 | High | 7.5 | 40% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-25126 | Medium | 5.3 | 35% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-2651 | Medium | 6.5 | 33% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-32837 | High | 7.5 | 29% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-2829 | High | 7.5 | 26% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-80206?
Upgrade nltk on debian unstable to 3.10.3-1 or later.
Is CVE-2026-80206 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-80206 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.26% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 18% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-80206?
CVE-2026-80206 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.9, rated medium. 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-2026-80206 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for nltk (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-2026-80206
Markdown
[](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-80206)HTML
<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2026-80206"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2026-80206.svg" alt="CVE-2026-80206"></a>Find and fix vulnerabilities across your fleet
TridentStack Control continuously scans your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet for known vulnerabilities, prioritizes them by severity and active exploitation, and patches them automatically.
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 2026-09-01.