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OpenAdvisories
Critical · 10.0 CVE-2025-14009 EUVD-2025-207820GHSA-7p94-766c-hgjpPYSEC-2026-96

Zip Slip Vulnerability in nltk/nltk Leading to Remote Code Execution

Published Feb 18, 2026 · Updated Jul 15, 2026 · Assigned by @huntr_ai

Description

A critical vulnerability exists in the NLTK downloader component of nltk/nltk, affecting all versions. The _unzip_iter function in nltk/downloader.py uses zipfile.extractall() without performing path validation or security checks. This allows attackers to craft malicious zip packages that, when downloaded and extracted by NLTK, can execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability arises because NLTK assumes all downloaded packages are trusted and extracts them without validation. If a malicious package contains Python files, such as __init__.py, these files are executed automatically upon import, leading to remote code execution. This issue can result in full system compromise, including file system access, network access, and potential persistence mechanisms.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
nltk nltk/nltk unspecified – ≤ latest —

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 nltk 3.9.3-1 —
Debian 13 nltk No fix yet —
Debian 12 nltk No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.10 nltk No fix yet —
Ubuntu 25.10 nltk No fix yet —
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS nltk 3.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 —
Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS nltk 3.8.1-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 —
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS nltk 3.7-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS nltk 3.4.5-2ubuntu0.1~esm3 —
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS nltk 3.2.5-1ubuntu0.1+esm3 —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS nltk 3.1-1ubuntu0.1+esm3 —
Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS nltk 2.0~b9-0ubuntu4.1~esm5 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed python-nltk 3.9.1-3.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:10226-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Alpine v3.24 py3-nltk 3.9.3-r0 —

Wolfi

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Wolfi rolling kubeflow-pipelines-visualization-server 2.16.0-r0 —
Wolfi rolling open-webui 0.8.9-r0 —
Wolfi rolling py3.11-nltk +2 3.9.3-r0 —

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
PyPI nltk < 3.9.3 3.9.3 GHSA-7p94-766c-hgjp

Advisories 1

References