Code execution via unvalidated per-call JVM options
Published Aug 25, 2026 · Updated Aug 27, 2026
Argument injection in NLTK before 3.10.3 allows attackers controlling Stanford wrapper options to execute arbitrary code through the JVM. The java() function prepends its per-call options list to the JVM command passed to subprocess.Popen without invoking _validate_java_options(). Exploitation requires an application or service to pass attacker-controlled java_options into a Stanford parser, tagger, tokenizer, or segmenter, enabling native or Java agent loading.
Summary
What happened
Argument injection in NLTK before 3.10.3 allows attackers controlling Stanford wrapper options to execute arbitrary code through the JVM. The java() function prepends its per-call options list to the JVM command passed to subprocess.Popen without invoking _validate_java_options(). Exploitation requires an application or service to pass attacker-controlled java_options into a Stanford parser, tagger, tokenizer, or segmenter, enabling native or Java agent loading.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-79675
- Published
- Aug 25, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 27, 2026
- Vendor
- NLTK Project
- Product
- NLTK
- Classifications
- CWE-88, T1129
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 27, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <3.10.3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- GHSA-m4rf-3fr8-xwx3 validation-bypass proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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