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TI-2026-00627 Aliases CVE-2026-0846GHSA-h8wq-7xc4-p3qx

Arbitrary File Read via Absolute Path Input in nltk.util.filestring()

Priority HIGH 72CWE-36Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · None · None
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 4 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat.

Summary

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 user-supplied input.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.0059 48th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Partial nltk (PyPI): 3.9.3Red Hat: 2 advisoriesRed Hat: 2 fixed, 4 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
nltknltk/nltkup to latest—No fix listedCNA
—nltk (PyPI)before 3.9.33.9.3Patch availableGHSA-h8wq-7xc4-p3qx
  • nltk/nltk Vendornltk Affected up to latest Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
  • nltk (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 3.9.3 Fixed in 3.9.3 Patch available GHSA-h8wq-7xc4-p3qx

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:nltk:nltk:3.9.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*3.9.2Vulnerablenltk
  • cpe:2.3:a:nltk:nltk:3.9.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.9.2 Vulnerable ·nltk

Remediation

  • Fix · GHSA-h8wq-7xc4-p3qx nltk (PyPI) Fixed in 3.9.3 Advisory →

Red Hat 2 advisories

  • RHSA-2026:19712 Released 2026-05-20 · Red Hat rating Critical
    RHOAI 3.3.3 - Red Hat OpenShift AI
    • Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.3 registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-built-in-detector-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-dashboard-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-data-science-pipelines-argo-argoexec-rhel9 +33
  • RHSA-2026:10184 Released 2026-04-23 · Red Hat rating Important
    RHOAI 2.25.5 - Red Hat OpenShift AI
    • Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.25 registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-caikit-nlp-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-caikit-tgis-serving-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-dashboard-rhel9 +47

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Lightspeed CoreAffectedNo fix yet
OpenShift LightspeedAffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)AffectedNo fix planned: Will not fix
Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.25Fixed RHSA-2026:10184
Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.3Fixed RHSA-2026:19712
Not affected: 4 products
  • OpenShift Lightspeed
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.25
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.3

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-0846
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-h8wq-7xc4-p3qx

References

Exploit 1

Advisory 1

Other 4

  • TI-2026-00629 Arbitrary Code Execution in NLTK StanfordSegmenter via Untrusted JAR Loading CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 10.0
  • TI-2025-12800 Zip Slip Vulnerability in nltk/nltk Leading to Remote Code Execution CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 10.0
  • TI-2026-55173 NLTK before 3.10.3 JVM Argument Injection via Per-Call Options CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
  • TI-2026-55155 NLTK before 3.10.3 Remote Code Execution via Unsafe Pickle Deserialization CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
  • TI-2026-56370 nltk PorterStemmer before 3.10.3 Quadratic-time DoS CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
  • TI-2026-55172 NLTK 3.10.2 Path Traversal via corpus-reader constructors CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
See all 41 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences