8.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-71513
NLTK 3.10.0 through 3.10.2 Remote Code Execution via AllowlistUnpickler Dotted-Name Bypass
Description

NLTK before 3.10.3 contains a remote code execution vulnerability in AllowlistUnpickler that validates only the pickle module string and not the global name, allowing attackers to resolve dotted names by attribute traversal to callables outside the allowlisted namespace. Attackers can craft untrusted transition-parser models that execute arbitrary commands when TransitionParser.parse loads the model through allowlisted_pickle_load.

INFO

Published Date :

Aug. 22, 2026, 2:16 p.m.

Last Modified :

Aug. 22, 2026, 2:16 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-71513 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Nltk nltk
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 HIGH 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10
CVSS 3.1 HIGH [email protected]
CVSS 3.1 HIGH MITRE-CVE
CVSS 4.0 HIGH 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10
CVSS 4.0 HIGH [email protected]
Solution
Update NLTK to version 3.10.3 or later to fix a remote code execution vulnerability.
  • Update NLTK to version 3.10.3 or later.
  • Avoid loading untrusted transition-parser models.
  • Validate pickle data sources carefully.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-71513 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-71513 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-71513 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-71513 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Aug. 22, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Affected [{'vendor': 'nltk', 'product': 'nltk', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '3.10.0', 'lessThan': '3.10.3', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '3.10.3', 'versionType': 'semver'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:pypi/nltk', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}]
    Added Description NLTK before 3.10.3 contains a remote code execution vulnerability in AllowlistUnpickler that validates only the pickle module string and not the global name, allowing attackers to resolve dotted names by attribute traversal to callables outside the allowlisted namespace. Attackers can craft untrusted transition-parser models that execute arbitrary commands when TransitionParser.parse loads the model through allowlisted_pickle_load.
    Added CVSS V4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/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
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-502
    Added Reference https://github.com/nltk/nltk
    Added Reference https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/v3.10.2/nltk/picklesec.py#L119-L124
    Added Reference https://github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/c3e37113742a1ebeeb4f2ca58941f320f98805ea
    Added Reference https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-through-remote-code-execution-via-allowlistunpickler-dotted-name-bypass
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.