CVE-2026-78682: NLTK Pathsec SSRF Protection Can Be Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-6ww7-3frv-cqxh",
  "modified" : "2026-09-08T16:41:40Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-08T16:41:40Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-78682" ],
  "summary" : "NLTK: pathsec SSRF protection can be bypassed when a proxy is configured",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nCurrent NLTK source reopens SSRF in proxied environments. `pathsec.urlopen()` validates the requested hostname locally, but once proxy inheritance is enabled the real fetch is performed by the proxy rather than by the validated direct-connect socket path.\n\n### Details\n\n- **Vulnerability type:** Server-side request forgery\n- **Affected component:** `nltk.pathsec.urlopen`, `nltk.data.load`, `nltk.downloader.Downloader.index`, `nltk.downloader.Downloader.download`\n- **Affected versions:** Current source `v3.10.0-rc2`; published `3.9.4` was a negative control and did not reproduce.\n- **Patched versions:** Not yet patched\n- **Root cause:** Proxy-handler inheritance disables `_SafeHTTPHandler` and `_SafeHTTPSHandler`, so the validated hostname no longer matches the actual egress destination.\n\nThe hardened direct path pins the validated numeric destination IP before opening the socket. The proxied branch instead copies `ProxyHandler` instances from the global opener, marks the request as proxied, and skips the pinned handlers. I confirmed that a validated public URL can be fetched from a loopback-only internal service through the proxy path via `pathsec.urlopen()`, `nltk.data.load()`, `Downloader.index()`, and `Downloader.download()`.\n\n### PoC\n\n**Preconditions**\n- The runtime has an HTTP proxy configured and the caller relies on `pathsec` to keep network fetches SSRF-safe.\n\n**Steps**\n1. Start a loopback-only HTTP server that serves secret text, a valid downloader index, and a ZIP payload.\n2. Configure a proxy that forwards a validated public URL to that internal loopback service.\n3. Call `pathsec.urlopen()` or `nltk.data.load()` on the public URL and observe the internal response is returned.\n4. Instantiate `Downloader(server_index_url=...)`, call `index()` and `download()`, and observe internal-only content is parsed and installed.\n\n**Minimal reproducible excerpt**\n\n```text\n{'urlopen': 'PROXY_TEXT_SECRET', 'data_load': 'PROXY_TEXT_SECRET', 'downloaded_file': 'INTERNAL_ZIP_SECRET'}\n```\n\n### Impact\n\nConsumers that trust `pathsec` as an SSRF barrier in proxied environments can be made to read internal-only HTTP resources, load forged downloader indexes, and install attacker-chosen package content fetched from the proxy's network view.\n\n### Remediation\n\nPreserve destination validation for the actual proxy egress target or fail closed when the request would otherwise downgrade into an unpinned proxied path. Add regression tests across `pathsec.urlopen`, `nltk.data.load`, and downloader fetches with a configured proxy.\n\n### References\n\n- https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/v3.10.0-rc2/nltk/pathsec.py#L468-L518\n- https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/v3.10.0-rc2/nltk/data.py#L1247-L1283\n- https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/v3.10.0-rc2/nltk/downloader.py#L875-L889\n- https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/v3.10.0-rc2/nltk/downloader.py#L1220-L1226\n- https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/3.9.4/nltk/pathsec.py#L245-L250\n\n---\n\n## Fix + attack demonstration (verified)\n\n\nNLTK cannot pin the egress through a proxy, so it stops pretending to: under `ENFORCE` a proxied fetch is **refused** rather than performed unvalidated. Operators who trust their proxy opt back in with `NLTK_ALLOW_PROXIED_URLOPEN=1` or `nltk.pathsec.ALLOW_PROXIED_FETCH=True`; under `ENFORCE=False` the refusal degrades to a warning. This closes the **whole class** (environment proxies and explicit `ProxyHandler` alike), because NLTK declines any fetch whose egress it cannot validate.\n\n## Attack demonstration (reproduced; captured output)\nA loopback HTTP server stands in for the internal target; `http_proxy` points at it; NLTK is asked for a **public** IP URL.\n\n**Before the fix** — the internal secret is exfiltrated through the proxy:\n```\nvalidate_network_url(public): PASSED\n*** BYPASS: pathsec.urlopen returned INTERNAL content via proxy: 'INTERNAL_ONLY_SECRET'\n```\n\n**After the fix** — five scenarios, isolated subprocesses:\n| Scenario | Result |\n|---|---|\n| proxied (env) + ENFORCE | `PermissionError` — **blocked** |\n| proxied + opt-in | returns secret — escape hatch works |\n| explicit `ProxyHandler` (not env) + ENFORCE | `PermissionError` — **blocked** (whole class) |\n| no proxy (direct) | internal IP still refused — pinning intact |\n| proxied + `ENFORCE=False` | returns secret **+ warns** |\n\n## Tests\n`nltk/test/unit/test_pathsec.py`: 64 passed. Added an end-to-end regression (`test_proxied_fetch_does_not_reach_internal_target`) plus `test_env_proxy_fails_closed_under_enforce`; the prior `test_env_proxy_skips_pinning_handlers` (which encoded the vulnerable path) is re-expressed as the opt-in case. Existing direct-path DNS-rebinding and IP-policy tests unchanged and passing. pre-commit (isort/black/ruff) clean.\n\n## Note\nThe upfront `validate_network_url()` and the direct-path IP pinning (from the earlier DNS-rebinding fixes, CVE-2026-54296 / GHSA-qvv7) are unchanged — this only closes the proxied downgrade they didn't cover.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "nltk"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.10.3"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 3.10.2"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nltk/nltk/security/advisories/GHSA-6ww7-3frv-cqxh"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-78682"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nltk/nltk/commit/767333a005a1cd3d82d2029215f2dbe66a5844d9"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nltk/nltk"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nltk/nltk/releases/tag/v3.10.3"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/nltk/PYSEC-2026-3733.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nltk-before-ssrf-protection-bypass-via-proxy"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-441", "CWE-918" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-09-08T16:41:40Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}