CVE-2026-66393

HIGH
Published Aug 22, 2026 Modified Aug 27, 2026 CWE-674

Description

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.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

7.5
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0036
Probability of exploitation
0.30%
Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-674 CWE-674

Affected Products

Vendor Product
nltk nltk

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-66393? +
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. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2026-66393? +
CVE-2026-66393 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0036, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.
What products are affected by CVE-2026-66393? +
CVE-2026-66393 affects products from nltk, specifically: nltk. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-66393? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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