High severity · published Aug 27, 2026
CVE-2026-81727
NLTK before 3.10.3 Hardlink File Overwrite via downloader
7.1
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
NLTK versions before 3.10.3 contain a filesystem containment bypass vulnerability in the Downloader.download and Downloader.incr_download methods that allows attackers to overwrite files outside the install root through pre-existing hardlinks. Attackers with write access to a shared downloader directory can create hardlinks pointing to outside-root files that are then overwritten during normal package extraction, mutating files outside the intended install tree.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 8% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
NL
nltk · nltk
before 3.10.3 · source: vendor, NVD
Affected product
NL
nltk
nltk
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