gh-160316: Make re.Pattern.match() return None when pos > endpos

Lib/test/test_re.py

@@ -2427,6 +2427,25 @@ def test_keyword_parameters(self):
             pat.scanner(string='abracadabra', pos=3, endpos=10).search().span(),
             (7, 9))
 
+    def test_pos_greater_than_endpos(self):
+        # If endpos is less than pos, no match will be found.
+        for pattern in ['', r'$', r'^$', r'\b$', r'(?:x|$)']:
+            for string in ['abc\n', b'abc\n', bytearray(b'abc\n')]:
+                with self.subTest(pattern=pattern, string=string):
+                    if isinstance(string, str):
+                        p = re.compile(pattern, re.MULTILINE)
+                    else:
+                        p = re.compile(pattern.encode(), re.MULTILINE)
+                    for pos, endpos in [(3, 0), (4, 0), (4, 3), (2, 1)]:
+                        self.assertIsNone(p.match(string, pos, endpos))
+                        self.assertIsNone(p.fullmatch(string, pos, endpos))
+                        self.assertIsNone(p.search(string, pos, endpos))
+                        self.assertIsNone(
+                            p.scanner(string, pos, endpos).match())
+                        self.assertIsNone(
+                            p.scanner(string, pos, endpos).search())
+                        self.assertEqual(p.findall(string, pos, endpos), [])
+
     def test_bug_20998(self):
         # Issue #20998: Fullmatch of repeated single character pattern
         # with ignore case.

Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-22-08-17-51.gh-issue-160316.sRe9pQ.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Fix :meth:`re.Pattern.match`, :meth:`re.Pattern.prefixmatch`,
+:meth:`re.Pattern.fullmatch` and the ``match()`` and ``prefixmatch()`` methods
+of scanner objects returning an empty match, or reading past the end of the
+string, when *pos* is greater than *endpos*.  They now return ``None``, as
+documented.

Modules/_sre/sre.c

@@ -899,6 +899,10 @@ pattern_dealloc(PyObject *self)
 LOCAL(Py_ssize_t)
 sre_match(SRE_STATE* state, SRE_CODE* pattern)
 {
+    /* No match if pos > endpos. */
+    if (state->ptr > state->end) {
+        return 0;
+    }
     if (state->charsize == 1)
         return sre_ucs1_match(state, pattern, 1);
     if (state->charsize == 2)