CVE-2026-78680 HIGH

CVE-2026-78680: NLTK before 3.10.3 Arbitrary Code Execution via Graphviz dot Binary

Vendor Nltk
Product nltk
Weakness CWE-426
Published August 25, 2026
Last update August 25, 2026

CVSS base score

8.5/10
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Confidentiality
Integrity

CVSS vector

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

What the vulnerability does

01Description

NLTK versions before 3.10.3 fail to use validated absolute paths when invoking the Graphviz dot binary in dependencygraph.dot2img and AlignedSent._repr_svg_, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code by placing a malicious dot binary in the search path or current working directory. Attackers can exploit bare-name binary resolution on Windows via the current working directory or on Unix-like systems via relative PATH entries to execute their binary instead of the legitimate Graphviz tool.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

August 25, 2026 CVE published