CVE-2026-79676
Path traversal in NLTK corpus readers allows file disclosure via symlinked corpora
Is CVE-2026-79676 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-79676 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.31% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-79676?
CVE-2026-79676 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.2. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-79676?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-79676. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-79676 affect?
CVE-2026-79676 affects NLTK < 3.10.3, Python applications using NLTK corpus readers, Servers accepting user-supplied corpora. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-79676?
Upgrade NLTK to >= 3.10.3; validate/restrict user-supplied corpora and avoid following symlinks.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Symlinked corpus files under trusted roots can be used to read arbitrary files outside the root via corpus reader APIs (channels/domains/synonyms).
Patch when possible
- affected< 3.10.3
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.