Medium severity · published Aug 7, 2026
CVE-2026-12261
Improper Access Control in nltk/nltk
6.5
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
A vulnerability in `nltk.downloader` in nltk/nltk versions <= 3.9.4 allows for cross-package resource and model poisoning. The downloader extracts package archives into shared namespaces such as `corpora/` and `taggers/` instead of package-isolated roots, and validates package integrity only after the archive has been written and extracted. This design flaw enables one package to overwrite another package's trusted resources within the same namespace, making the changes immediately active through ordinary NLTK APIs. This issue persists across fresh interpreter restarts and can affect downstream workflows, including machine learning pipelines and reproducibility-sensitive environments.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 11% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
NL
nltk/nltk · nltk
through latest · source: vendor
NL
Nltk · Nltk
through 3.9.4 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12261
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-12261
Permissions Required
https://huntr.com/bounties/8b8c381e-08a8-4e4f-bb46-a320c96a364f
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