CVE-2026-26006 in AutoGPT
Summary
by MITRE • 02/11/2026
AutoGPT is a platform that allows users to create, deploy, and manage continuous artificial intelligence agents that automate complex workflows. The autogpt before 0.6.32 is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service due to the use of regex at Code Extraction Block. The two Regex are used containing the corresponding dangerous patterns \s+[\s\S]*? and \s+(.*?). They share a common characteristic — the combination of two adjacent quantifiers that can match the same space character (\s). As a result, an attacker can supply a long sequence of space characters to trigger excessive regex backtracking, potentially leading to a Denial of Service (DoS). This vulnerability is fixed in 0.6.32.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/11/2026
The vulnerability CVE-2026-26006 affects AutoGPT versions prior to 0.6.32, a platform designed for creating and managing AI agents that automate complex workflows. This system processes code extraction blocks through regular expression patterns that have been identified as susceptible to denial of service attacks. The flaw resides in the code extraction functionality where two specific regex patterns are employed: \s+[\s\S]? and \s+(.?). These patterns demonstrate a critical design flaw that makes them vulnerable to catastrophic backtracking behavior. The root cause stems from the combination of adjacent quantifiers that can match the same space character, creating an exploitable condition where input manipulation can cause exponential execution time growth.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves regex patterns that contain overlapping quantifiers capable of matching identical whitespace characters. When an attacker provides a carefully crafted input containing an excessive sequence of space characters, the regex engine enters into a state of catastrophic backtracking. This occurs because the patterns can match the same character in multiple ways, causing the engine to explore exponentially growing numbers of possible matching paths. The \s+[\s\S]? pattern combined with \s+(.?) creates a scenario where the engine must evaluate numerous combinations of space character matches, leading to dramatic performance degradation and ultimately system unresponsiveness. This behavior directly aligns with the common characteristics of regex denial of service vulnerabilities as classified under CWE-1321.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire AutoGPT platform functionality. When exploited, the denial of service condition can render the system unable to process legitimate code extraction requests, effectively blocking user workflows and automation processes. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability with minimal resources by simply providing long sequences of whitespace characters, making it particularly dangerous for systems that process untrusted input. The vulnerability affects the core code extraction functionality that is essential for the platform's operation, meaning that even legitimate users could experience service interruptions during normal usage patterns. This DoS condition can be triggered repeatedly, potentially causing sustained platform degradation that impacts all users and operational workflows.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of version updates to AutoGPT 0.6.32 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for the regex patterns. Security teams should also implement input validation and sanitization measures to limit the length of whitespace sequences that can be processed by the code extraction blocks. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing rate limiting and resource monitoring to detect unusual regex processing patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The fix addresses the underlying regex design flaw by modifying the quantifier combinations to eliminate overlapping matching possibilities. Organizations should also conduct thorough testing to ensure that the updated regex patterns maintain proper functionality while eliminating the vulnerability. This remediation aligns with recommended practices for preventing regex denial of service attacks and should be implemented as part of broader security hardening efforts.
The vulnerability demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1496, which involves resource exhaustion through malicious input processing. The specific exploitation pattern follows the methodology described in CWE-1321 for catastrophic backtracking in regular expressions, where the combination of adjacent quantifiers creates exploitable conditions. Security practitioners should monitor for similar patterns in other systems that employ complex regex processing, as this represents a common class of vulnerability in software that processes user input through regular expression engines. The fix implemented in version 0.6.32 serves as a model for addressing similar issues in other platforms where regex patterns may contain overlapping quantifiers that create exploitable backtracking conditions.