Resource exhaustion in Chatterbot
CVE-2026-23842
ChatterBot is a machine learning, conversational dialog engine for creating chat bots. ChatterBot versions up to 1.2.10 are vulnerable to a denial-of-service condition caused by improper database session and connection pool management. Concurrent invocations of the get_response() method can exhaust the underlying SQLAlchemy connection pool, resulting in persistent service unavailability and requiring a manual restart to recover. Version 1.2.11 fixes the issue.
Vulnerability class: DoS (Denial of Service)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.005 (43.9th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 44th percentile — 43.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- Chatterbot
- Gunthercox Chatterbot — versions < 1.2.11
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- github.com/gunthercox/ChatterBot/security/advisories/GHSA-v4w8-49pv-mf72 (Exploit, Vendor Advisory)
- github.com/gunthercox/ChatterBot/pull/2432 (Issue Tracking)
- github.com/gunthercox/ChatterBot/commit/de89fe648139f8eeacc998ad4524fab291a378cf (Patch)
- github.com/gunthercox/ChatterBot/releases/tag/1.2.11 (Product, Release Notes)
- github.com/user-attachments/assets/4ee845c4-b847-4854-84ec-4b2fb2f7090f (Exploit)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-23842?
- CVE-2026-23842 is a high-severity vulnerability in Chatterbot, classified under Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-01-19.
- How severe is CVE-2026-23842?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2026-23842 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.