# CVE-2026-23842: ChatterBot has Denial of Service via Database Connection Pool Exhaustion

> Attackers can cause persistent service unavailability in ChatterBot by exhausting the database connection pool through concurrent requests.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 20 Jan 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v4w8-49pv-mf72, PYSEC-2026-1244

## What is CVE-2026-23842?

CVE-2026-23842 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in gunthercox ChatterBot, published on 19 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23842?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including chatterbot. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `chatterbot` | PyPI | All versions | 1.2.11 |
| `chatterbot` | PyPI | All versions | 1.2.11 |
| `chatterbot` | PyPI | All versions | 1.2.11 |

Products: Chatterbot Chatterbot.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23842?

Upgrade chatterbot to 1.2.11 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-23842 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2026-23842 — High severity Denial-of-Service vulnerability caused by SQLAlchemy connection pool exhaustion in concurrent get_response() calls in ChatterBot ≤ 1.2.10. (github_poc): https://github.com/AdityaBhatt3010/CVE-2026-23842-Denial-of-Service-via-Database-Connection-Pool-Exhaustion-version-1.2.10

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23842 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23842 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in gunthercox ChatterBot, published on 19 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- chatterbot (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.2.11
- chatterbot (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.2.11
- chatterbot (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.2.11

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23842/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23842/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23842
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23842
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23842

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23842/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.