vulnerability / NVI-00016456 / Revision 1
Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK): Path Traversal in NKJPCorpusReader leads to Arbitrary File Read and bypasses the nltk.pathsec sandbox (ENFORCE=True)
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for nltk. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
7.5 high
GitHub source severity; exploitability and local consequence require separate evidence.
As of · GitHub Advisory Database
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
nltk
source listed<= 3.9.4
### Summary A path-traversal vulnerability in `NKJPCorpusReader` allows an attacker who can influence the `fileids` argument of its public read methods (`header`, `raw`, `words`, `sents`, `tagged_words`) to read files outside the corpus root. The reader builds the file path with no containment check and opens it with the builtin `open()`, so it bypasses NLTK's `nltk.pathsec` sandbox — including the strict `ENFORCE = True` mode that `SECURITY.md` recommends for web/multi-tenant deployments. `header()` returns the parsed content of the out-of-root file to the caller (arbitrary file read). ### Details `SECURITY.md` promises that file access is "validated against allowed NLTK data directories" and that with `nltk.pathsec.ENFORCE = True` "unauthorized file access … will raise `PermissionError`." That guarantee is enforced via `FileSystemPathPointer.open()` / `CorpusReader.open()`, which call `nltk.pathsec.validate_path(...)`. `NKJPCorpusReader` never uses that protected path. In `nltk/corpus/reader/nkjp.py`: - `add_root()` builds the path by **plain string concatenation** with no normalization or containment check: ```pytho
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
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- GHSA-6hm5-jgcp-p838 ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
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Public revision history
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- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.