CVE-2026-0846 — Absolute Path Traversal in Nltk

CWE-36 — Absolute Path TraversalCWE-22 — Path Traversal7 documents7 sources
Severity
8.6HIGHNVD
EPSS
0.1%
top 79.89%
CISA KEV
Not in KEV
Exploit
No known exploits
Affected products
3
NltkDebian NltkNltk Nltk
Timeline
PublishedMar 9

Description

A vulnerability in the `filestring()` function of the `nltk.util` module in nltk version 3.9.2 allows arbitrary file read due to improper validation of input paths. The function directly opens files specified by user input without sanitization, enabling attackers to access sensitive system files by providing absolute paths or traversal paths. This vulnerability can be exploited locally or remotely, particularly in scenarios where the function is used in web APIs or other interfaces that accept u…

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:LExploitability: 3.9 | Impact: 4.7

Affected Packages4 packages

▶PyPInltk/nltk< 3.9.3
▶debiandebian/nltk< nltk 3.9.3-1 (forky)
▶Debiannltk/nltk< 3.9.3-1
▶CVEListV5nltk/nltk_nltkunspecified — latest

🔴Vulnerability Details

3
OSV
CVE-2026-0846: A vulnerability in the `filestring()` function of the `nltk↗2026-03-09
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GHSA
GHSA-h8wq-7xc4-p3qx: A vulnerability in the `filestring()` function of the `nltk↗2026-03-09
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GHSA
NLTK has Arbitrary File Read via Absolute Path Input in nltk.util.filestring()↗2026-03-09
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📋Vendor Advisories

2
Red Hat
nltk: NLTK: Arbitrary file read via improper path validation in `filestring()` function↗2026-03-09
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Debian
CVE-2026-0846: nltk - A vulnerability in the `filestring()` function of the `nltk.util` module in nltk...↗2026
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🕵️Threat Intelligence

1
Wiz
CVE-2026-0846 Impact, Exploitability, and Mitigation Steps | Wiz↗
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