Homepage

Directory Traversal Affecting nltk package, versions <3.10.0-1

Severity

 Recommended
low

Based on default assessment until relevant scores are available.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.62% (47th percentile)

Do your applications use this vulnerable package?

In a few clicks we can analyze your entire application and see what components are vulnerable in your application, and suggest you quick fixes.

Test your applications
  • Snyk IDSNYK-DEBIANUNSTABLE-NLTK-17400984
  • published23 Jun 2026
  • disclosed22 Jun 2026
Report a new vulnerability Found a mistake?

Introduced: 22 Jun 2026

CVE-2026-54293  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-22  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade Debian:unstable nltk to version 3.10.0-1 or higher.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream nltk package and not the nltk package as distributed by Debian. See How to fix? for Debian:unstable relevant fixed versions and status.

NLTK (Natural Language Toolkit) is a suite of open source Python modules, data sets, and tutorials supporting research and development in Natural Language Processing. Prior to 3.10.0-rc1, nltk.data.load() in NLTK is vulnerable to path traversal via URL-encoded path separators and traversal segments when using the nltk: URL scheme. The unsafe-path regex check is performed before url2pathname() decodes the %xx sequences (a classic decode-after-check / TOCTOU-style flaw), allowing an attacker to bypass the protection documented in NLTK's SECURITY.md and read arbitrary files from the filesystem. While literal traversal strings such as ../../../etc/passwd are correctly blocked, encoded variants such as %2fetc%2fpasswd, %2e%2e%2f..., and ..%2f..%2f slip past the regex and are subsequently decoded into a real filesystem path. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.10.0-rc1.