CVE-2026-71514: Path Traversal (CVSS 2.5)

Description

NLTK 3.9.4 through 3.10.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in CrubadanCorpusReader. _load_lang_ngrams joins the corpus root with crubadan_code, the column-0 value read from the corpus table.txt mapping file, and opens the result with the builtin open() rather than the pathsec-validated opener, so os.path.join discards the root when that value is absolute and the read escapes the corpus directory without the containment check nltk.pathsec applies when ENFORCE is set. An attacker who controls a corpus package can disclose file contents outside the corpus root through lang_freq, limited to paths ending in -3grams.txt whose contents parse as token count lines.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

2.5

LOW

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0016

Probability of exploitation

0.06%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-22 Path Traversal

References

Other References

https://github.com/nltk/nltk https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/v3.10.2/nltk/corpus/reader/crubadan.py#L90-L98 https://github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/10d34b3f4fe3fec74b76527a409eb0acbac2e8ab https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-through-path-traversal-via-crubadancorpusreader-pathsec-bypass

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-71514? +

NLTK 3.9.4 through 3.10.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in CrubadanCorpusReader. _load_lang_ngrams joins the corpus root with crubadan_code, the column-0 value read from the corpus table.txt mapping file, and opens the result with the builtin open() rather than the pathsec-validated opener, so os.path.join discards the root when that value is absolute and the read escapes the corpus directory without the containment check nltk.pathsec applies when ENFORCE is set. An attacker who controls a corpus package can disclose file contents outside the corpus root through lang_freq, limited to paths ending in -3grams.txt whose contents parse as token count lines. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 2.5 (LOW).

How severe is CVE-2026-71514? +

CVE-2026-71514 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 2.5 out of 10, rated LOW. This is a low-severity vulnerability with limited impact. The EPSS score is 0.0016, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-71514? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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