---
id: CVE-2026-100841
title: >-
  In MONAI 1.6.0, PersistentDataset (monai/data/dataset.py) explicitly rejects
  the combination track_meta=True with weights_only=True, forcing users who
  cache MetaTensors (the default tensor type in MONAI >= 1.0) to run
  torch.load(hashfile…
summary: >-
  In MONAI 1.6.0, PersistentDataset (monai/data/dataset.py) explicitly rejects
  the combination track_meta=True with weights_only=True, forcing users who
  cache MetaTensors (the default tensor type in MONAI >= 1.0) to run
  torch.load(hashfile…
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-502
vendor: Project-MONAI
product: MONAI
affected:
  - MONAI 1.6.0
published: '2026-09-27'
updated: '2026-09-27'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-27T02:17:22.543'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-100841'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/security/advisories/GHSA-636w-j999-g7x5
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: >-
      https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/monai-1.6.0-persistentdataset-remote-code-execution-via-pickle-cache
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-27T02:41:45.572Z'
---

## Overview

In MONAI 1.6.0, PersistentDataset (monai/data/dataset.py) explicitly rejects the combination track_meta=True with weights_only=True, forcing users who cache MetaTensors (the default tensor type in MONAI >= 1.0) to run torch.load(hashfile, weights_only=False). Related cache helpers in monai/data/utils.py also call pickle.loads on cached content and derive cache keys with hashlib.md5. As a result, a local user with write access to a shared or world-writable cache_dir (e.g. /tmp/monai_cache, HPC scratch, ~/.cache/monai) can place a malicious pickle file that is deserialized the next time another user's MONAI pipeline reads the cache, resulting in arbitrary code execution in that user's context. All released versions of the monai pip package are affected; no patched version is available as of the advisory.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.