CVE-2026-73556: vLLM Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-48jh-3gj7-fg8v",
  "modified" : "2026-09-04T21:37:00Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-04T21:37:00Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-73556" ],
  "summary" : "vLLM: ReDoS via structured_outputs.regex in the lm-format-enforcer backend (no compile timeout) — missed sibling of GHSA-rwxx-mrjm-wc2m",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nThe fix for `GHSA-rwxx-mrjm-wc2m` (\"ReDoS via `structured_outputs.regex` compiled without timeout\") wrapped the regex compile in the **xgrammar** and **outlines** backends with `compile_regex_with_timeout` (and, for outlines, `validate_regex_is_buildable`). The **lm-format-enforcer** backend was left unguarded: it compiles the attacker-supplied regex with no timeout and no buildability check. A single request with a catastrophic regex hangs the structured-output compile step and stalls the engine worker (denial of service).\n\n### Affected code (HEAD d6d39c1)\n\n`vllm/v1/structured_output/backend_lm_format_enforcer.py`:\n- line 110: `character_level_parser = lmformatenforcer.RegexParser(grammar_spec)` — builds an `interegular` FSM from the attacker regex synchronously, **no timeout**.\n- line 155: `validate_structured_output_request_lm_format_enforcer` returns immediately on `if so_params.regex:` — **no validation**.\n\nSibling backends that WERE patched by GHSA-rwxx:\n- `backend_xgrammar.py:92` → `compile_regex_with_timeout(...)`.\n- `backend_outlines.py:65` → `compile_regex_with_timeout(...)` (plus `validate_regex_is_buildable`).\n\nlm-format-enforcer uses the same `interegular` DFA-construction primitive the advisory cites for the outlines backend.\n\n### Reproduction (runtime-verified against the sink)\n\nThe sink `lmformatenforcer.RegexParser(<regex>)` was exercised directly (this is exactly what the backend calls):\n\n```\nbaseline  '[0-9]{3}'          -> 0.0002 s\nattacker  '(a{1,300}){300}'   -> DID NOT COMPLETE in 20 s (one core pegged at 100% in interegular FSM construction)\n```\n\nEnd-to-end: start `vllm serve <model> --structured-outputs-config '{\"backend\":\"lm-format-enforcer\"}'`, then `POST /v1/completions` with `{\"structured_outputs\":{\"regex\":\"(a{1,300}){300}\"}, ...}`. The request never returns; because grammar compile runs in the engine's structured-output path, concurrent requests stall = worker-level DoS. The identical request against the outlines backend is bounded by `compile_regex_with_timeout` and returns a clean error.\n\n### Impact\n\nUnauthenticated denial of service (vLLM ships with no authentication by default). One request pegs a CPU core and blocks the structured-output engine path.\n\n**Reachability precondition:** the operator must have selected `backend=lm-format-enforcer` via `--structured-outputs-config` (the default is `auto` → xgrammar). This is the same opt-in tier as the outlines backend that GHSA-rwxx already covered.\n\n### Suggested remediation\n\nRoute the lm-format-enforcer regex compile (`backend_lm_format_enforcer.py:110`) through the same `compile_regex_with_timeout` guard already applied to the xgrammar and outlines backends, and reject un-buildable / oversized patterns in `validate_structured_output_request_lm_format_enforcer`.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "vllm"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.26.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/security/advisories/GHSA-48jh-3gj7-fg8v"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73556"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/pull/47595"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/commit/c9a788eedc412acceaa5112e0d44624b49841577"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.26.0"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1333", "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-09-04T21:37:00Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-13T15:20:17Z"
  }
}