CVE-2026-78680
Published:August 25, 2026
Updated:August 25, 2026
NLTK versions before 3.10.3 fail to use validated absolute paths when invoking the Graphviz dot binary in dependencygraph.dot2img and AlignedSent.repr_svg, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code by placing a malicious dot binary in the search path or current working directory. Attackers can exploit bare-name binary resolution on Windows via the current working directory or on Unix-like systems via relative PATH entries to execute their binary instead of the legitimate Graphviz tool.
Affected Packages
nltk (CONDA):
Affected version(s) >=2.0.3 <3.10.3Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.10.3nltk (PYTHON):
Affected version(s) >=0.8 <3.10.3Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.10.3Additional Notes
The description of this vulnerability differs from MITRE.
Related Resources (4)
Do you need more information?
Contact UsCVSS v4
Base Score:
8.5
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
HIGH
Vulnerable System Integrity
HIGH
Vulnerable System Availability
HIGH
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
7.8
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Weakness Type (CWE)
Untrusted Search Path
EPSS
Base Score:
0.12