CVE-2026-12252: NLTK Stanford wrapper classes execute untrusted JAR files without verification
(updated )
In nltk/nltk versions 3.9.3 and earlier, five Stanford interface classes (StanfordPOSTagger, StanfordNERTagger, StanfordParser, StanfordDependencyParser, and StanfordNeuralDependencyParser) are vulnerable to untrusted JAR code execution. These classes accept user-controllable JAR paths and execute them via the java() function, which invokes subprocess.Popen() without integrity verification. This vulnerability is identical to CVE-2026-0848, which was fixed for StanfordSegmenter by adding SHA256 verification. However, the fix was not applied to these additional classes, leaving them susceptible to arbitrary code execution when loading untrusted JAR files.
References
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-9r6g-266r-89x4
- github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/006f4b83d430147b067b81e2cddd226d6fa405c8
- github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/24777f0cb8c33ed2839d16e0f8169a3c312a6806
- github.com/nltk/nltk/pull/3743
- github.com/nltk/nltk/releases/tag/v3.10.3
- github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/nltk/PYSEC-2026-2085.yaml
- huntr.com/bounties/f5c93982-0cc9-4e2e-bb85-1b6ab29a2efb
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12252
Code Behaviors & Features
Detect and mitigate CVE-2026-12252 with GitLab Dependency Scanning
Secure your software supply chain by verifying that all open source dependencies used in your projects contain no disclosed vulnerabilities. Learn more about Dependency Scanning →