# CVE-2026-72742: DSPy 3.3.0b1 Local File Read via Image/Audio Output Field Parsing

> Attackers can read arbitrary local files by injecting paths into image or audio output fields, exposing sensitive data to attacker-controlled endpoints.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.2 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 12 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vg2p-rf25-4wrx

## What is CVE-2026-72742?

CVE-2026-72742 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in Stanford NLP DSPy, published on 11 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

DSPy 3.3.0b1 contains a file exfiltration vulnerability in the Image and Audio output field adapters that allows attackers with influence over language model outputs to read arbitrary local files by injecting a filesystem path into the url field of a parsed Image or Audio typed output. The JSONAdapter and ChatAdapter parse untrusted language model completions through parse_value into TypeAdapter validation, which triggers encode_image or encode_audio to read and base64-encode any local file path via the os.path.isfile branch in image.py and audio.py, subsequently embedding the file contents into outgoing prompt messages sent to the attacker-controlled model endpoint.

Weakness: CWE-73 (External Control of File Name or Path)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72742?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72742?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-72742 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-72742 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72742 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72742 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72742 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in Stanford NLP DSPy, published on 11 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72742 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Stanford NLP DSPy. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72742/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72742/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72742
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72742
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72742

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72742/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.