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vLLM has Hardcoded Trust Override in Model Files Enables RCE Despite Explicit User Opt-Out

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Mar 26, 2026 in vllm-project/vllm

Package

pip vllm (pip)

Affected versions

>= 0.10.1, < 0.18.0

Patched versions

0.18.0

Description

Summary

Two model implementation files hardcode trust_remote_code=True when loading sub-components, bypassing the user's explicit --trust-remote-code=False security opt-out. This enables remote code execution via malicious model
repositories even when the user has explicitly disabled remote code trust.

Details

Affected files (latest main branch):

  1. vllm/model_executor/models/nemotron_vl.py:430
vision_model = AutoModel.from_config(config.vision_config, trust_remote_code=True)
  1. vllm/model_executor/models/kimi_k25.py:177
  cached_get_image_processor(self.ctx.model_config.model, trust_remote_code=True)

Both pass a hardcoded trust_remote_code=True to HuggingFace API calls, overriding the user's global --trust-remote-code=False setting.

Relation to prior CVEs:

  • CVE-2025-66448 fixed auto_map resolution in vllm/transformers_utils/config.py (config loading path)
  • CVE-2026-22807 fixed broader auto_map at startup
  • Both fixes are present in the current code. These hardcoded instances in model files survived both patches — different code paths.

Impact

Remote code execution. An attacker can craft a malicious model repository that executes arbitrary Python code when loaded by vLLM, even when the user has explicitly set --trust-remote-code=False. This undermines the security guarantee
that trust_remote_code=False is intended to provide.

Remediation: Replace hardcoded trust_remote_code=True with self.config.model_config.trust_remote_code in both files. Raise a clear error if the model component requires remote code but the user hasn't opted in.

References

@russellb russellb published to vllm-project/vllm Mar 26, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Mar 27, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Mar 27, 2026
Reviewed Mar 27, 2026

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(9th percentile)

Weaknesses

Protection Mechanism Failure

The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-27893

GHSA ID

GHSA-7972-pg2x-xr59

Source code

Credits

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