diff --git a/src/spdx_tools/spdx/validation/external_package_ref_validator.py b/src/spdx_tools/spdx/validation/external_package_ref_validator.py
index 7dd316354..7a20d379d 100644
--- a/src/spdx_tools/spdx/validation/external_package_ref_validator.py
+++ b/src/spdx_tools/spdx/validation/external_package_ref_validator.py
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 
 CPE22TYPE_REGEX = r"^c[pP][eE]:/[AHOaho]?(:[A-Za-z0-9._\-~%]*){0,6}$"
 CPE23TYPE_REGEX = (
-    r'^cpe:2\.3:[aho\*\-](:(((\?*|\*?)([a-zA-Z0-9\-\._]|(\\[\\\*\?!"#$$%&\'\(\)\+,\/:;<=>@\[\]\^'
+    r'^cpe:2\.3:[aho\*\-](:(((\?*|\*?)([a-zA-Z0-9\-\._]|([\\\*\?!"#$$%&\'\(\)\+,\/:;<=>@\[\]\^'
     r"`\{\|}~]))+(\?*|\*?))|[\*\-])){5}(:(([a-zA-Z]{2,3}(-([a-zA-Z]{2}|[0-9]{3}))?)|[\*\-]))(:(((\?*"
-    r'|\*?)([a-zA-Z0-9\-\._]|(\\[\\\*\?!"#$$%&\'\(\)\+,\/:;<=>@\[\]\^`\{\|}~]))+(\?*|\*?))|[\*\-])){4}$'
+    r'|\*?)([a-zA-Z0-9\-\._]|([\\\*\?!"#$$%&\'\(\)\+,\/:;<=>@\[\]\^`\{\|}~]))+(\?*|\*?))|[\*\-])){4}$'
 )
 MAVEN_CENTRAL_REGEX = r"^[^:]+:[^:]+(:[^:]+)?$"
 NPM_REGEX = r"^[^@]+@[^@]+$"
diff --git a/tests/spdx/validation/test_external_package_ref_validator.py b/tests/spdx/validation/test_external_package_ref_validator.py
index eafa31941..c5955955f 100644
--- a/tests/spdx/validation/test_external_package_ref_validator.py
+++ b/tests/spdx/validation/test_external_package_ref_validator.py
@@ -27,6 +27,18 @@
     [
         (ExternalPackageRefCategory.SECURITY, "cpe22Type", "cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:10.04:-:lts"),
         (ExternalPackageRefCategory.SECURITY, "cpe23Type", "cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:10.04:-:lts:*:*:*:*:*"),
+        # a "+" in the version (#796) must be accepted without being backslash-escaped
+        (
+            ExternalPackageRefCategory.SECURITY,
+            "cpe23Type",
+            "cpe:2.3:a:ahmed_h.:spdx-tools:0.8.3.dev1+g8050fd9c:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
+        ),
+        # a "+" in the product name (#796)
+        (
+            ExternalPackageRefCategory.SECURITY,
+            "cpe23Type",
+            "cpe:2.3:a:debian_gcc_maintainers:libstdc++6:12.2.0-9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
+        ),
         (ExternalPackageRefCategory.SECURITY, "advisory", "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28498"),
         (ExternalPackageRefCategory.SECURITY, "fix", "https://github.com/indutny/elliptic/commit/441b7428"),
         (