soupsieve: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity
CVE-2026-126190 is a high-severity inefficient algorithmic complexity vulnerability in soupsieve from Facelessuser, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected soupsieve versions: < 4.0. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.54% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of soupsieve you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facelessuser | soupsieve | < 4.0 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- NoneNothing can be modified.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Soup Sieve is a CSS selector library designed to be used with Beautiful Soup 4. Prior to 4.0, Soup Sieve repeatedly walks the same ancestors while matching descendant combinators, and each additional descendant combinator raises the polynomial degree of the work on deeply nested attacker-influenced HTML or XML. Applications using selectors such as section div div through select(), select_one(), or Beautiful Soup CSS APIs against untrusted documents can have a worker occupied for seconds or minutes, while trusted-only document processing is not affected. Selectors compiled with NOCACHE continue to use the old uncached behavior. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity
An algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached.
More Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerabilities (CWE-407)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other vulnerabilities in soupsieve
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerabilities
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
Spotted an error? Tell us.