Critical severity · published Jul 31, 2026
CVE-2026-68770
sentence-transformers Arbitrary Code Execution on Local Model Load Despite trust_remote_code=False
9.8
CVSS
0.9%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
sentence-transformers contains a security control bypass vulnerability that allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution by exploiting a logic flaw in the import_module_class helper within sentence_transformers/util/misc.py, where the guard condition includes an 'or os.path.exists(model_name_or_path)' clause that satisfies the trust gate whenever the supplied path exists on the local filesystem, regardless of the trust_remote_code=False argument. Attackers who can control or influence the contents of a model directory on disk can place malicious Python files such as modeling_*.py referenced via modules.json, causing the code to execute at import time when an application loads the model with SentenceTransformer(path, trust_remote_code=False), bypassing the documented security contract and achieving code execution within the loading process.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.9% · higher than 60% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
SE
sentence-transformers · Hugging Face
through 5.5.1 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68770
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68770
issue-tracking
https://github.com/huggingface/sentence-transformers/issues/3801
vendor-advisory
https://github.com/huggingface/sentence-transformers/pull/3807
product
https://github.com/huggingface/sentence-transformers
patch
https://github.com/huggingface/sentence-transformers/commit/ae1acc3fb2aa2004577b297eb4a915ce7a03316a
third-party-advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/sentence-transformers-arbitrary-code-execution-on-local-model-load-despite-trust-remote-code-false
