Untrusted search path in Natural Language Toolkit - #VU141417
Published: August 11, 2026 / Updated: August 15, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU141417
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 8.5 [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]
CVE-ID: N/A
CWE-ID: CWE-426
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to execute arbitrary code.
The vulnerability exists due to an untrusted search path in the Graphviz \'dot\' binary invocation in nltk.parse.dependencygraph.dot2img and nltk.translate.api.AlignedSent._repr_svg_ when invoking the Graphviz program by bare name. A local user can place a crafted file named dot in a searched location to execute arbitrary code.
On Windows, resolution may include the current working directory.
Affected software
Natural Language Toolkit
Remediation
Install security update from vendor's website.
Natural Language Toolkit - update to 3.10.3