Vulnerability · Published Jul 31, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-68770sentence-transformers Arbitrary Code Execution on Local Model Load Despite trust_remote_code=False

Critical 9.8

In plain English

A critical-severity code injection in sentence-transformers from Hugging Face. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.9% (higher than 60% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)9.8Critical

Exploit odds (30 days)0.9%top 39.9% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official 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.

Affected packages & fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Fixed in	Advisory
PyPI	sentence-transformers	5.6.0	GHSA-jhr6-gm9c-rqjv
PyPI	sentence-transformers	5.6.0	PYSEC-2026-4164

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
Hugging Face	sentence-transformers	0 – through 5.5.1

Weakness: CWE-94 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

GitHub Issue issue-tracking
Pull Request vendor-advisory
Product Repository product
Patch Commit patch
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/sentence-transformers-arbitrary-code-execution-on-local-model-load-despite-trust-remote-code-false third-party-advisory