CVE catalog
CVE-2026-66393
nltk: CVE-2026-66393
- Severity
- High · CVSS 8.7
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Published
- Source
- [NVD] · [CVE record]
- EPSS
- 0.52% · Oct 25, 2026
NLTK versions before 3.9.4 contain an unbounded recursion vulnerability in JSONTaggedDecoder.decode_obj() that allows attackers to cause denial of service by supplying deeply nested JSON structures. Attackers can craft JSON payloads exceeding the recursion limit to trigger an unhandled RecursionError that crashes the Python process.
Vulnerable and fixed packages
Distribution-reported package versions and fixes. These do not depend on matching against the OpenFactory package catalog.
| Distribution | Package | Release | Version | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debian | nltk | sid | 3.10.3-1 | fixed |
| Debian | nltk | forky | 3.10.3-1 | fixed |
| Debian | nltk | trixie | 3.9.1-2 | vulnerable |
| Debian | nltk | bookworm | 3.8-1 | vulnerable |
| Cpe | nltk | Not reported | 3.9.4 | fixed |
| Pip | nltk | Not reported | 3.9.4 | fixed |
| Ubuntu | nltk | pro | 3.9.1-2 | vulnerable |
| Ubuntu | nltk | pro | 3.9.1-2build1 | vulnerable |
| Ubuntu | nltk | pro | 3.9.2-1 | vulnerable |
| Ubuntu | nltk | pro | 3.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 | vulnerable |
| Ubuntu | nltk | pro | 3.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm2 | vulnerable |
Fixed-version evidence
| Distribution | Package | Type | Release | Fixed version | Urgency | Origin | Bugs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debian | nltk | source | sid | 3.10.0-1 | not yet assigned | Not reported | Not reported |
| Debian | nltk | source | forky | 3.10.0-1 | not yet assigned | Not reported | Not reported |
| Debian | nltk | source | trixie | (unfixed) | not yet assigned | Not reported | Not reported |
| Debian | nltk | source | bookworm | (unfixed) | not yet assigned | Not reported | Not reported |
| Cpe | nltk | cpe | Not reported | 3.9.4 | Not reported | NVD-CVE-2026-66393 | Not reported |
| Pip | nltk | pip | Not reported | 3.9.4 | Not reported | GHSA-RF74-V2FM-23PW | Not reported |
Notes
[trixie] nltk: Minor issue [bookworm] nltk: Minor issue
OpenFactory catalog packages
[Debian 12 (Bookworm)]
- [python3-nltk]Affected
Source package: [nltk]
Details (2)
3.8-1· all · bookwormAffected
dsa · nltk · debian · bookworm
3.8-1· all · bookwormAffected
dsa · nltk · debian · bookworm
Observed:
References
- [https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rf74-v2fm-23pw]
- [https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-66393]
- [https://osv.dev/vulnerability/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-66393]
- [https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-66393]
- [https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-66393.json]
[Debian Security Tracker] · [FIRST EPSS] · [GitHub Advisory Database] · [National Vulnerability Database (NVD)] · [OSV Package Vulnerability Database] · [Red Hat security advisories and VEX]