---
id: CVE-2026-4372
aliases:
  - GHSA-29pf-2h5f-8g72
  - PYSEC-2026-2289
title: HuggingFace transformers vulnerable to remote code execution
summary: HuggingFace transformers vulnerable to remote code execution
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
vendor: transformers
product: transformers
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - transformers < 5.3.0
patched:
  - transformers 5.3.0
published: '2026-05-26'
updated: '2026-09-10'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-10T03:50:45.254378086Z'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-29pf-2h5f-8g72'
references:
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-4372'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/huggingface/transformers/commit/a7f8e7ff37d87d1a1a0c8cf607971c607741452f
  - url: 'https://github.com/huggingface/transformers'
  - url: 'https://huntr.com/bounties/1f693a6e-6836-4b8b-a0bd-ca036fba8884'
tags:
  - osv
  - pip
epss: 0.00479
epssPercentile: 0.40533
ingestedAt: '2026-07-08T18:25:44.194Z'
---

## Overview

A critical remote code execution vulnerability exists in all versions of the HuggingFace transformers library prior to version 5.3.0. The vulnerability allows an attacker to craft a malicious `config.json` file containing the `_attn_implementation_internal` field set to an attacker-controlled HuggingFace Hub repository ID. When a victim loads this model using the standard `AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained()` API, the library downloads and executes arbitrary Python code from the attacker's repository with the victim's full OS privileges. This issue arises due to unfiltered deserialization of configuration attributes, insufficient sanitization of internal fields, and unsandboxed execution of downloaded kernels. The vulnerability bypasses the `trust_remote_code` security mechanism, is invisible to the victim, and exploits the standard documented usage pattern, making it particularly severe. Users are advised to upgrade to version 5.3.0 or later to mitigate this issue.

## Affected packages

- `transformers < 5.3.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `transformers 5.3.0`