CVE-2022-40898Network attack vector

CLI hang via filename regex backtracking

Published Dec 22, 2022 · Updated Apr 15, 2025

Regular expression denial of service in PyPA Wheel before 0.38.1 allows context-dependent attackers to hang wheel CLI with a crafted filename. The WHEEL_INFO_RE pattern used non-greedy wildcards for filename fields, causing pathological backtracking on malformed separator-rich names. Exploitation requires an affected CLI invocation to validate the crafted name, and the resulting CPU consumption interrupts that operation.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability2.66%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Regular expression denial of service in PyPA Wheel before 0.38.1 allows context-dependent attackers to hang wheel CLI with a crafted filename. The WHEEL_INFO_RE pattern used non-greedy wildcards for filename fields, causing pathological backtracking on malformed separator-rich names. Exploitation requires an affected CLI invocation to validate the crafted name, and the resulting CPU consumption interrupts that operation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-40898
Published
Dec 22, 2022
Updated
Apr 15, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-1333, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 22, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 15, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.5GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1333Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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