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TI-2026-39801 Aliases CVE-2026-55099GHSA-cv84-9p8j-fj68

icalendar: Algorithmic Complexity in Equality

Priority HIGH 72CWE-400Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-400.

Summary

icalendar is an RFC 5545 compatible parser and generator of iCalendar files for Python. From 7.1.0 until 7.1.3, the Component equality method in src/icalendar/cal/component.py compares nested subcomponents with two membership loops, and each membership test invokes the same method on child components, causing O(2^n) work relative to nesting depth. Component.from_ical accepts arbitrarily nested BEGIN:VEVENT blocks without a depth limit, so an attacker can submit a sub-kilobyte .ics file containing equal nested subtrees and trigger the cost when an application performs equality, inequality, membership, deduplication, test-assertion, round-trip, or normalization comparisons. Parsing alone does not trigger the issue, and comparisons that differ early short-circuit, but a few hundred bytes can pin a CPU core for minutes or indefinitely, causing denial of service in calendar sync or import endpoints, invite processing, and other comparison paths. This issue is fixed in version 7.1.3.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.0063 50th percentileScored 2026-11-08
Fix Fixed icalendar (collective): 7.1.3icalendar (PyPI): 7.1.3

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
collectiveicalendar7.1.0 to before 7.1.37.1.3Patch availableCNA
—icalendar (PyPI)7.1.0 to before 7.1.37.1.3Patch availableGHSA-cv84-9p8j-fj68
  • icalendar Vendorcollective Affected 7.1.0 to before 7.1.3 Fixed in 7.1.3 Patch available CNA
  • icalendar (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 7.1.0 to before 7.1.3 Fixed in 7.1.3 Patch available GHSA-cv84-9p8j-fj68

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA icalendar (collective) Fixed in 7.1.3
  • Fix · GHSA-cv84-9p8j-fj68 icalendar (PyPI) Fixed in 7.1.3 Advisory →

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-55099
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-cv84-9p8j-fj68
  3. 2026-10-28 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile

References

  • TI-2026-53991 icalendar: Denial of service via unbounded VALARM REPEAT expansion CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
  • TI-2012-04038 Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in admin/login.asp in Acuity CMS 2.6.2 allows… CVSS 2.0MEDIUM 4.3
  • TI-2005-04112 Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Acuity CMS 2.6.2 allows remote attackers to… CVSS 2.0MEDIUM 4.3

Sources