Unix Signal Name Regex for Python

What this pattern does

This page provides a comprehensive, battle-tested regular expression for matching unix signal name, ported and verified for Python. A rigorously tested regex reduces debugging time and protects your application from edge-case failures. The snippet below is ready to drop into your Python project — whether you're validating in a Django view, a FastAPI endpoint, or a standalone data processing script.

Python Implementation

# Unix Signal Name
# ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Dev & Systems > Shell

import re

unix_signal_name_pattern = re.compile(r'^(?:SIG)?(HUP|INT|QUIT|ILL|TRAP|ABRT|BUS|FPE|KILL|USR1|SEGV|USR2|PIPE|ALRM|TERM|CHLD|CONT|STOP|TSTP|TTIN|TTOU|URG|XCPU|XFSZ|VTALRM|PROF|WINCH|IO|PWR|SYS|RTMIN(?:\+[1-9]|\+[12][0-9]|\+30)?|RTMAX(?:-[1-9]|-[12][0-9]|-30)?)$')

def validate_unix_signal_name(value: str) -> bool:
    return bool(unix_signal_name_pattern.fullmatch(value))

# Example
print(validate_unix_signal_name("SIGTERM"))  # True

Test Cases

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Dev & Systems > Shell category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for Python developers because particularly important in Python web servers where CPU-bound regex operations can stall concurrent request handling. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

Technical Notes

The SIG prefix is optional. SIGKILL (9) and SIGSTOP (19/17/23 by OS) cannot be caught or ignored. Real-time signals (RTMIN, RTMAX) are available on Linux for application-defined signaling.