Lucene search
K

Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-54293

🗓️ 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00Reported by TenableType 
nessus
 nessus
🔗 www.tenable.com👁 3 Views

Linux hosts with NLTK before 3.10.0-rc1 are vulnerable to encoded path traversal in nltk.data.load.

Related
Refs
Code
ReporterTitlePublishedViews
Family
ATTACKERKB
CVE-2026-54293
22 Jun 202617:25
attackerkb
Circl
CVE-2026-54293
11 Jun 202611:07
circl
CVE
CVE-2026-54293
22 Jun 202617:25
cve
Cvelist
CVE-2026-54293 NLTK: URL-Encoded Path Traversal in nltk.data.load() Allows Arbitrary Local File Read
22 Jun 202617:25
cvelist
Debian CVE
CVE-2026-54293
22 Jun 202617:25
debiancve
EUVD
EUVD-2026-38333
22 Jun 202617:25
euvd
Github Security Blog
Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK): URL-Encoded Path Traversal in nltk.data.load() Allows Arbitrary Local File Read
16 Jun 202614:34
github
NVD
CVE-2026-54293
22 Jun 202619:17
nvd
OPENSUSE Linux
Security update for python-nltk (important)
22 Jun 202600:00
opensuse
OSV
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-54293
22 Jun 202619:17
osv
Rows per page
#%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80900
##
# (C) Tenable, Inc.
##

include('compat.inc');

if (description)
{
  script_id(322136);
  script_version("1.2");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2026/06/23");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2026-54293");

  script_name(english:"Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-54293");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be
patched.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied
patch available.

  - NLTK (Natural Language Toolkit) is a suite of open source Python modules, data sets, and tutorials
    supporting research and development in Natural Language Processing. Prior to 3.10.0-rc1, nltk.data.load()
    in NLTK is vulnerable to path traversal via URL-encoded path separators and traversal segments when using
    the nltk: URL scheme. The unsafe-path regex check is performed before url2pathname() decodes the %xx
    sequences (a classic decode-after-check / TOCTOU-style flaw), allowing an attacker to bypass the
    protection documented in NLTK's SECURITY.md and read arbitrary files from the filesystem. While literal
    traversal strings such as ../../../etc/passwd are correctly blocked, encoded variants such as
    %2fetc%2fpasswd, %2e%2e%2f..., and ..%2f..%2f slip past the regex and are subsequently decoded into a real
    filesystem path. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.10.0-rc1. (CVE-2026-54293)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-54293");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-54293");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"There is no known solution at this time.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"agent", value:"unix");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:U/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2026-54293");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vendor_unpatched", value:"true");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2026/06/16");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2026/06/22");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.10");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:26.04:-:lts");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:nltk");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:nltk");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"Misc.");

  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2026 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info2.nasl", "set_linux_os_id.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/local_checks_enabled", "global_settings/vendor_unpatched", "Host/OS/identifier");
  script_require_ports("Host/OS/Debian Linux-11", "Host/OS/Debian Linux-12", "Host/OS/Debian Linux-13", "Host/OS/Debian Linux-14", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-14.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-16.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-18.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-20.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-22.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-24.04", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-25.10", "Host/OS/Ubuntu Linux-26.04");

  exit(0);
}

if (!get_kb_item("global_settings/vendor_unpatched")) exit(0, "Unpatched Vulnerabilities Detection not active.");
if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
if (empty_or_null(get_one_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l"))) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

include('linux_unpatched.inc');

var distro_constraints_array = {
  "Debian Linux-11": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "11",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "python3-nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Debian Linux-12": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "12",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "python3-nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Debian Linux-13": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "13",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "python3-nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Debian Linux-14": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "14",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "python3-nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-14.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "14.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-16.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "16.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-18.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "18.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-20.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "20.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-22.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "22.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-24.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "24.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-25.10": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "25.10",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "Ubuntu Linux-26.04": {
    "package_manager": "dpkg-l",
    "constraints": [
      {
        "release": "26.04",
        "pkgs": [
          {"reference": "nltk"}
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
};

var distro_constraints_values = linux_unpatched::get_distro_constraints(distro_constraints_arr:distro_constraints_array);
if (empty_or_null(distro_constraints_values)) audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, 'affected');
var report = linux_unpatched::check_unpatched_constraints(distro_constraints_values:distro_constraints_values);

if (!empty_or_null(report))
{
  security_report_v4(
      port       : 0,
      severity   : SECURITY_WARNING,
      extra      : report
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, 'affected');
}

Data

Build on a solid foundation with Vulners data

We provide the essential building blocks for cybersecurity solutions with comprehensive, structured, and constantly updated vulnerability and exploits data

Api

Power your application with Vulners API

The Vulners REST API offers reliable, high-performance access to vulnerability intelligence, with 99.9% SLA uptime and CDN-backed data delivery for seamless global access

App

Assess and manage vulnerabilities with Vulners tools

Built on top of Vulners' database and SDK, end-user solutions give security professionals and developers lightweight and powerful tools for vulnerability remediation

23 Jun 2026 00:00Current
6Medium risk
Vulners AI Score6
CVSS 3.17.5
EPSS0.00438
SSVC
3