high

CVE-2026-62385

PyPI · nltk

Summary

NLTK: Stable FrameNet and NKJP readers parse outside-root XML

Severity
high
CVSS
5.9
EPSS
0.4% (p30)
CWE
CWE-22, CWE-73, CWE-706
Also known as
GHSA-568f-pv23-39p4
Published
2026-09-08
Updated
2026-09-08

Advisory details

Summary

Published nltk==3.9.4 still contains several XML-reader entrypoints that build parser paths from caller-controlled selectors or trusted-looking index state without preserving the corpus-root boundary.

Details

I confirmed four public stable entrypoints return parsed outside-root content: a parent-segment traversal frame name, a poisoned fulltext index filename, a poisoned LU id, and an unsafe NKJP header file identifier. Current source rejects the same payloads with explicit path-safety errors, which shows the bug is real but version-scoped to the published stable package.

PoC

Preconditions

Steps

  1. Create a minimal FrameNet or NKJP corpus root and place attacker-chosen XML files outside that root.
  2. Feed unsafe selectors or poisoned index state into the relevant public stable 3.9.4 APIs.
  3. Observe frame_by_name, doc, lu(...).exemplars, or header return parsed outside-root values.
  4. Run the same payloads against current source and observe explicit path-safety rejections.

Minimal reproducible excerpt

framenet_frame_definition FRAME_LEAK
framenet_doc_text DOC_LEAK
framenet_lu_text LU_LEAK
nkjp_header_title HEADER_LEAK

Impact

Applications that process attacker-influenced FrameNet or NKJP corpus selectors or state can be made to parse XML outside the trusted corpus root through normal public reader responses.

Remediation

Keep these reader paths on the same root-confinement model as CorpusReader.open() and nltk.pathsec. Reject unsafe path components before constructing filenames from frame names, document filenames, LU ids, or NKJP file identifiers.

Resources

References

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Sources: CISA KEV (public domain), OSV.dev & GitHub Advisory Database (CC-BY-4.0), FIRST EPSS, NVD/CWE (public domain). Served live from the Stateward advisory database.