Critical severity · published Aug 25, 2026
CVE-2026-78683
NLTK before 3.10.0 Remote Code Execution via Unsafe Pickle Deserialization
9.6
CVSS
0.5%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
NLTK before 3.10.0 (affected versions <=3.9.4) contains an unsafe pickle deserialization vulnerability in the TransitionParser.parse() method (nltk/parse/transitionparser.py). The method calls pickle_load() with the default restricted=False, routing deserialization through WarningUnpickler, which does not override find_class() and therefore permits arbitrary class resolution. When an application loads an attacker-crafted model file, embedded pickle gadget chains execute arbitrary Python code with the privileges of the user running the application. NLTK provides a RestrictedUnpickler for safe deserialization, but it is not used by production code paths. Fixed in 3.10.0.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.5% · higher than 43% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
NL
nltk · nltk
before 3.10.0 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-78683
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-78683
Exploit
https://github.com/nltk/nltk/security/advisories/GHSA-rhp5-r9x4-f5g2
Third Party Advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-before-remote-code-execution-via-unsafe-pickle-deserialization
More from nltk
10.0
CVE-2026-0848
Arbitrary Code Execution in NLTK StanfordSegmenter via Untrusted JAR Loading
9.8
CVE-2026-79675
NLTK before 3.10.3 JVM Argument Injection via Per-Call Options
9.8
CVE-2026-79657
NLTK before 3.10.3 Remote Code Execution via Unsafe Pickle Deserialization
8.8
CVE-2026-71513
NLTK 3.10.0 through 3.10.2 Remote Code Execution via AllowlistUnpickler Dotted-Name Bypass
8.8
CVE-2025-14009
Zip Slip Vulnerability in nltk/nltk Leading to Remote Code Execution
