`Element.findall()` and fully-consumed `Element.iterfind()` exhibit `O(n^2)` time complexity when using XPath index predicates (e.g. `[1]`, `[last()]`, `[last()-N]`) on XML documents with many same-tag siblings. `Element.find()` is only affected when the first match is near the end of the sibling list, such as with `[last()]` or `[last()-N]`; `.//item[1]` short-circuits after the first match.
https://mail.python.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/7YMZ6DDZVR26TJJBVO3RDNBAVGHNYAKR/
https://github.com/python/cpython/pull/152676
https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/152674
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/cb409342a19f25656f62e679f8bac265fe1442c3
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/96510a3758f4a075f43223afdee3b6ee1a7a7f02
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/390337b8ba1658833fdef379e1739c9f9533a8db
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/2ffab083782968a4d732738f4f1dff6bbd69d2b0
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/0583f24ae678993e3f7939f51ad5bcae5ad9dc70
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/037965c00a427cba5c05447efadc67c51a492e85
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/02c08e6b747ac43d0d866a4ffa916bedf3423f81
Published: 2026-07-28
Updated: 2026-08-13
Base Score: 5
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
Severity: Medium
Base Score: 7.5
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Severity: High
Base Score: 2
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:H/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Severity: Low
EPSS: 0.00262