CVE-2023-6730Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Code execution via unguarded pickle model loading

Published Dec 19, 2023 · Updated Aug 2, 2024

Unsafe deserialization in Hugging Face Transformers before 4.36.0 allows remote attackers to execute code through a malicious model. TransfoXLTokenizer and RagRetriever pass supplied vocabulary, passage, and index-metadata pickle files directly to pickle.load without a trust gate. Execution occurs when an application loads an attacker-controlled TransfoXL checkpoint or RAG index, and the payload runs with that application's privileges.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.93%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Unsafe deserialization in Hugging Face Transformers before 4.36.0 allows remote attackers to execute code through a malicious model. TransfoXLTokenizer and RagRetriever pass supplied vocabulary, passage, and index-metadata pickle files directly to pickle.load without a trust gate. Execution occurs when an application loads an attacker-controlled TransfoXL checkpoint or RAG index, and the payload runs with that application's privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-6730
Published
Dec 19, 2023
Updated
Aug 2, 2024
Vendor
Hugging Face
Product
Hugging Face Transformers
Classifications
CWE-502, T1204.002
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 19, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 2, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <4.36

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Hugging Face · Hugging Face Transformersversion=unspecified <4.36

Published CVSS scores

9.0huntr.devCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data
T1204.002User Execution: Malicious File

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo