NLTK < 3.9.2 Eval Injection via collocations.py Command-Line Arguments
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2025-71408 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | VulnCheck |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-07-24 22:16:50 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-07-24 22:16:50 UTC |
| Description | NLTK (Natural Language Toolkit) before version 3.9.3 contains an eval injection vulnerability in the nltk.collocations module that allows an attacker who controls command-line arguments to execute arbitrary Python code. When collocations.py is invoked directly, the __main__ block passes command-line arguments directly to eval() as suffixes of BigramAssocMeasures without allowlist validation or sanitization, enabling an attacker to supply a Python expression that escapes the intended attribute lookup and executes arbitrary code including OS commands via the os module. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 8.5 HIGH from [email protected]
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/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
Problem Types: CWE-95 | CWE-95 Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code ('Eval Injection')
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | [email protected] | Secondary | 8.5 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 8.5 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Primary | 7.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 7.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
LocalAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
NonePrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
HighAvailability
HighSub Conf.
NoneSub Integrity
NoneSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/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
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
LocalAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
HighAvailability
HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/66f14096d952ec8f04934f515e027534bd4eb0ac | [email protected] | github.com | |
| aydinnyunus.github.io/2026/06/07/command-injection-nltk-collocations-eval | [email protected] | aydinnyunus.github.io | |
| www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-eval-injection-via-collocations-py-command-li... | [email protected] | www.vulncheck.com | |
| github.com/nltk/nltk/pull/3465 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/nltk/nltk/releases/tag/3.9.3 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Yunus AYDIN (en)
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.