Description
NLTK before 3.10.0 (affected versions <= 3.9.4) contains a server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in the validate_network_url() function in nltk/pathsec.py. The _resolve_hostname() helper catches OSError and ValueError during socket.getaddrinfo() and returns an empty list; when DNS resolution fails, the validation loop executes no IP checks and the function fails open, allowing urlopen() to proceed without validation. An attacker who can trigger DNS resolution failures or use DNS rebinding can bypass SSRF protections and reach restricted network resources, including cloud metadata endpoints (e.g., 169.254.169.254).
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| nltk | nltk | < 3.10.0 | 3.10.0 |
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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | nltk | 3.10.0-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | nltk | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | nltk | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | nltk | No fix yet | — |
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS | nltk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS | nltk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | nltk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | nltk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | nltk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | nltk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | nltk | No fix yet | — |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | nltk | < 3.10.0 | 3.10.0 | GHSA-3gqm-fcw5-w839 |
References
- GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-3gqm-fcw5-w839) vendor-advisory
- VulnCheck Advisory: NLTK before 3.10.0 SSRF via DNS Resolution Failure third-party-advisory