CVE-2026-71514: Safety · NLTK CrubadanCorpusReader path traversal allows arbitrary file disclosure
Affects safetySource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 2.5 Low : upgrade to 3.8.1_2 when convenient.
Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 07:30 UTC
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 3.8.1_2
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 3 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade safety to 3.8.1_2.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Homebrewsafetypkg:brew/safetyOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
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.
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71514 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/10d34b3f4fe3fec74b76527a409eb0acbac2e8ab (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/nltk/nltk (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/v3.10.2/nltk/corpus/reader/crubadan.py (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/nltk/nltk/releases/tag/v3.10.3 (opens in a new tab)
- vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-through-path-traversal-via-crubadancorpusreader-pathsec-bypass (opens in a new tab)