Description
Protego is a pure-Python robots.txt parser with support for modern conventions. Prior to 0.6.2, protego._urlpattern._URLPattern._prepare_pattern_for_regex translates every asterisk in an Allow or Disallow directive into a lazy regular-expression wildcard, so a directive containing many asterisks creates exponential backtracking. After protego.Protego.parse processes a crafted robots.txt file, protego.Protego.can_fetch can spend an attacker-controlled period matching a near-miss URL and deny service to the crawler. The vulnerable path is src/protego/_urlpattern.py in the _URLPattern match logic. This issue is fixed in version 0.6.2.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| scrapy | protego | < 0.6.2 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | python-protego | 0.6.2+dfsg-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | python-protego | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | python-Protego | 0.6.2-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11202-1 |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | protego | < 0.6.2 | 0.6.2 | GHSA-wjmf-p669-5m5p |
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11202-1 python313-Protego-0.6.2-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jul 9, 2026