UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009

Source
https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-14009
Import Source
https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009
Upstream
Published
2026-02-18T18:24:00Z
Modified
2026-03-27T16:47:08.415394Z
Severity
  • 10.0 (Critical) CVSS_V3 - CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS Calculator
  • Ubuntu - high
Summary
[none]
Details

A critical vulnerability exists in the NLTK downloader component of nltk/nltk, affecting all versions. The unzipiter function in nltk/downloader.py uses zipfile.extractall() without performing path validation or security checks. This allows attackers to craft malicious zip packages that, when downloaded and extracted by NLTK, can execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability arises because NLTK assumes all downloaded packages are trusted and extracts them without validation. If a malicious package contains Python files, such as init.py, these files are executed automatically upon import, leading to remote code execution. This issue can result in full system compromise, including file system access, network access, and potential persistence mechanisms.

References

Affected packages

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
nltk

Package

Name
nltk
Purl
pkg:deb/ubuntu/nltk@3.7-1?arch=source&distro=jammy

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

3.*
3.5-1
3.6.5-1
3.6.7-1
3.7-1

Ecosystem specific

{
    "binaries": [
        {
            "binary_version": "3.7-1",
            "binary_name": "python3-nltk"
        }
    ],
    "priority_reason": "arbitrary code execution"
}

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json"
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
nltk

Package

Name
nltk
Purl
pkg:deb/ubuntu/nltk@3.8.1-1?arch=source&distro=noble

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

3.*
3.8.1-1

Ecosystem specific

{
    "binaries": [
        {
            "binary_version": "3.8.1-1",
            "binary_name": "python3-nltk"
        }
    ],
    "priority_reason": "arbitrary code execution"
}

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json"
Ubuntu:25.10
nltk

Package

Name
nltk
Purl
pkg:deb/ubuntu/nltk@3.9.1-2?arch=source&distro=questing

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

3.*
3.9.1-2

Ecosystem specific

{
    "binaries": [
        {
            "binary_version": "3.9.1-2",
            "binary_name": "python3-nltk"
        }
    ],
    "priority_reason": "arbitrary code execution"
}

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json"
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS
nltk

Package

Name
nltk
Purl
pkg:deb/ubuntu/nltk@2.0~b9-0ubuntu4.1~esm4?arch=source&distro=esm-infra-legacy/trusty

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

2.*
2.0~b9-0ubuntu4
2.0~b9-0ubuntu4.1~esm2
2.0~b9-0ubuntu4.1~esm4

Ecosystem specific

{
    "binaries": [
        {
            "binary_version": "2.0~b9-0ubuntu4.1~esm4",
            "binary_name": "python-nltk"
        }
    ],
    "priority_reason": "arbitrary code execution"
}

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json"
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS
nltk

Package

Name
nltk
Purl
pkg:deb/ubuntu/nltk@3.1-1ubuntu0.1+esm2?arch=source&distro=esm-apps/xenial

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

3.*
3.0.4-1
3.0.5-1
3.1-1
3.1-1ubuntu0.1
3.1-1ubuntu0.1+esm1
3.1-1ubuntu0.1+esm2

Ecosystem specific

{
    "binaries": [
        {
            "binary_version": "3.1-1ubuntu0.1+esm2",
            "binary_name": "python-nltk"
        },
        {
            "binary_version": "3.1-1ubuntu0.1+esm2",
            "binary_name": "python3-nltk"
        }
    ],
    "priority_reason": "arbitrary code execution"
}

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json"
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS
nltk

Package

Name
nltk
Purl
pkg:deb/ubuntu/nltk@3.2.5-1ubuntu0.1+esm2?arch=source&distro=esm-apps/bionic

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

3.*
3.2.4-1
3.2.5-1
3.2.5-1ubuntu0.1
3.2.5-1ubuntu0.1+esm1
3.2.5-1ubuntu0.1+esm2

Ecosystem specific

{
    "binaries": [
        {
            "binary_version": "3.2.5-1ubuntu0.1+esm2",
            "binary_name": "python-nltk"
        },
        {
            "binary_version": "3.2.5-1ubuntu0.1+esm2",
            "binary_name": "python3-nltk"
        }
    ],
    "priority_reason": "arbitrary code execution"
}

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json"
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS
nltk

Package

Name
nltk
Purl
pkg:deb/ubuntu/nltk@3.4.5-2ubuntu0.1~esm2?arch=source&distro=esm-apps/focal

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected

Affected versions

3.*
3.4.5-1
3.4.5-2
3.4.5-2ubuntu0.1~esm1
3.4.5-2ubuntu0.1~esm2

Ecosystem specific

{
    "binaries": [
        {
            "binary_version": "3.4.5-2ubuntu0.1~esm2",
            "binary_name": "python3-nltk"
        }
    ],
    "priority_reason": "arbitrary code execution"
}

Database specific

source
"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2025/UBUNTU-CVE-2025-14009.json"