nltk — security advisory
NLTK versions before 3.9.4 contain an unbounded recursion vulnerability in JSONTaggedDecoder.decode_obj() that allows attackers to cause denial of service by supplying deeply nested JSON structures. Attackers can craft JSON payloads exceeding the recursion limit to trigger an unhandled RecursionError that crashes the Python process.
- Products
- nltk
- Affected versions
- 3.10.0-1, 3.10.1-1, 3.10.3-1, 3.8-1, 3.8.1-1, 3.9.1-1, 3.9.1-2, 3.9.2-1, 3.9.3-1
- Fixed versions
- 3.10.0-1
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-66393
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 30 Oct 2026, 16:48 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
NLTK versions before 3.9.4 contain an unbounded recursion vulnerability in JSONTaggedDecoder.decode_obj() that allows attackers to cause denial of service by supplying deeply nested JSON structures. Attackers can craft JSON payloads exceeding the recursion limit to trigger an unhandled RecursionError that crashes the Python process.
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393
nltk
Fixed versions: Not specified
nltk
Fixed versions: Not specified
nltk
Fixed versions: 3.10.0-1
Complete source record
{
"id": "646b47401e2ea3d6669e0641886ad24a14cfb8c2b90f8af6c9662b522a1fc7b7",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393",
"summary": "NLTK versions before 3.9.4 contain an unbounded recursion vulnerability in JSONTaggedDecoder.decode_obj() that allows attackers to cause denial of service by supplying deeply nested JSON structures. Attackers can craft JSON payloads exceeding the recursion limit to trigger an unhandled RecursionError that crashes the Python process.",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "nltk",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [],
"affected_versions": [
{
"value": "3.10.0-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.10.1-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.10.3-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.8-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.8.1-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.9.1-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.9.1-2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.9.2-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.9.3-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
}
]
},
{
"name": {
"value": "nltk",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
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"affected_versions": [
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"evidence": "/affected/1/versions"
},
{
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"evidence": "/affected/1/versions"
},
{
"value": "3.10.3-1",
"evidence": "/affected/1/versions"
},
{
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"evidence": "/affected/1/versions"
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{
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"evidence": "/affected/1/versions"
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{
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}
]
},
{
"name": {
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"evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
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],
"affected_versions": [
{
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"evidence": "/affected/2/versions"
},
{
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"evidence": "/affected/2/versions"
},
{
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"evidence": "/affected/2/versions"
}
]
}
],
"severity": "high",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393",
"aliases": [
"DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V4",
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/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"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "nltk",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/nltk?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
"ecosystem": "Debian:12"
},
"versions": [
"3.10.0-1",
"3.10.1-1",
"3.10.3-1",
"3.8-1",
"3.8.1-1",
"3.9.1-1",
"3.9.1-2",
"3.9.2-1",
"3.9.3-1"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "nltk",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/nltk?arch=source&distro=trixie",
"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
},
"versions": [
"3.10.0-1",
"3.10.1-1",
"3.10.3-1",
"3.9.1-2",
"3.9.2-1",
"3.9.3-1"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.10.0-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "nltk",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/nltk?arch=source&distro=forky",
"ecosystem": "Debian:14"
},
"versions": [
"3.9.1-2",
"3.9.2-1",
"3.9.3-1"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-66393.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-15T09:47:40.340744328Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2026-66393"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-66393"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2026-66393",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 328257,
"published_at": "2026-08-22T15:16:19.633+00:00"
}