GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq: Duplicate Advisory JVM Argument Injection Bypass Vulnerability

CRITICAL
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-88
Published
Advisory Summary

GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) jvm argument injection bypass vulnerability (CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')) affecting Duplicate Advisory libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves jvm argument injection bypass via per-call options in the nltk stanford wrappers (incomplete fix of cve-2026-12841). Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')
Affected Product Duplicate Advisory
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Duplicate Advisory dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

nltk fixed: Latest secure release 
pip install nltk>=Latest secure release
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show nltk

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show nltk

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Duplicate Advisory in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show nltk command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection'), where the product constructs a string for a command to be executed by a separate component in another control sphere, but it does not properly delimit the intended arguments, options, or switches within that command string. In Duplicate Advisory, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

## Duplicate Advisory This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-m4rf-3fr8-xwx3. This link is maintained to preserve external references. ## Original Description NLTK before 3.10.3 fails to validate JVM options passed through the per-call options parameter in the java() function, allowing attackers to inject dangerous JVM flags. Attackers can supply malicious options like -agentpath, -javaagent, or @argfile to Stanford wrapper classes to achieve arbitrary code execution.

GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq Affected Duplicate Advisory Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
nltk
pypi/nltk
PyPI
≤ 3.10.2

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/nltk/nltk/security/advisories/GHSA-m4rf-3fr8-xwx3
NVD — GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-79675
www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-bef... WEB
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-before-jvm-argument-injection-via-per-call-options

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq?
GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq is a security vulnerability in Duplicate Advisory involving JVM argument injection bypass via per-call options in the NLTK Stanford wrappers (incomplete fix of CVE-2026-12841) under CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection').
Which Duplicate Advisory versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: nltk.
What version fixes GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is nltk affected?
Yes, nltk is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq?
GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq?
GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq is classified under CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') (The product constructs a string for a command to be executed by a separate component in another control sphere, but it does not properly delimit the intended arguments, options, or switches within that command string.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show nltk'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-3h2g-j4wp-7qqq",
  "modified" : "2026-09-01T20:38:13Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-25T18:31:52Z",
  "withdrawn" : "2026-09-01T20:38:13Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "Duplicate Advisory: JVM argument injection bypass via per-call options in the NLTK Stanford wrappers (incomplete fix of CVE-2026-12841)",
  "details" : "## Duplicate Advisory\n\nThis advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-m4rf-3fr8-xwx3. This link is maintained to preserve external references.\n\n## Original Description\n\nNLTK before 3.10.3 fails to validate JVM options passed through the per-call options parameter in the java() function, allowing attackers to inject dangerous JVM flags. Attackers can supply malicious options like -agentpath, -javaagent, or @argfile to Stanford wrapper classes to achieve arbitrary code execution.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/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" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "nltk"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "3.10.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nltk/nltk/security/advisories/GHSA-m4rf-3fr8-xwx3"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-79675"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-before-jvm-argument-injection-via-per-call-options"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-88" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-09-01T20:38:13Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-25T16:17:28Z"
  }
}