diff --git a/libs/core/langchain_core/prompts/image.py b/libs/core/langchain_core/prompts/image.py
index 09d63db65db8d..ac0b70509d9f3 100644
--- a/libs/core/langchain_core/prompts/image.py
+++ b/libs/core/langchain_core/prompts/image.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 from langchain_core.prompts.base import BasePromptTemplate
 from langchain_core.pydantic_v1 import Field
 from langchain_core.runnables import run_in_executor
-from langchain_core.utils import image as image_utils
 
 
 class ImagePromptTemplate(BasePromptTemplate[ImageURL]):
@@ -54,6 +53,11 @@ def format(
         Returns:
             A formatted string.
 
+        Raises:
+            ValueError: If the url is not provided.
+            ValueError: If the url is not a string.
+
+
         Example:
 
             .. code-block:: python
@@ -67,23 +71,38 @@ def format(
             else:
                 formatted[k] = v
         url = kwargs.get("url") or formatted.get("url")
-        path = kwargs.get("path") or formatted.get("path")
+        if kwargs.get("path") or formatted.get("path"):
+            msg = (
+                "Loading images from 'path' has been removed as of 0.3.15 for security "
+                "reasons. Please specify images by 'url'."
+            )
+            raise ValueError(msg)
         detail = kwargs.get("detail") or formatted.get("detail")
-        if not url and not path:
-            raise ValueError("Must provide either url or path.")
         if not url:
-            if not isinstance(path, str):
-                raise ValueError("path must be a string.")
-            url = image_utils.image_to_data_url(path)
-        if not isinstance(url, str):
-            raise ValueError("url must be a string.")
-        output: ImageURL = {"url": url}
-        if detail:
-            # Don't check literal values here: let the API check them
-            output["detail"] = detail  # type: ignore[typeddict-item]
+            msg = "Must provide url."
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+        elif not isinstance(url, str):
+            msg = "url must be a string."
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+        else:
+            output: ImageURL = {"url": url}
+            if detail:
+                # Don't check literal values here: let the API check them
+                output["detail"] = detail  # type: ignore[typeddict-item]
         return output
 
     async def aformat(self, **kwargs: Any) -> ImageURL:
+        """Async format the prompt with the inputs.
+
+        Args:
+            kwargs: Any arguments to be passed to the prompt template.
+
+        Returns:
+            A formatted string.
+
+        Raises:
+            ValueError: If the path or url is not a string.
+        """
         return await run_in_executor(None, self.format, **kwargs)
 
     def pretty_repr(self, html: bool = False) -> str:
diff --git a/libs/core/langchain_core/utils/image.py b/libs/core/langchain_core/utils/image.py
index b59682bd37f1b..f46ee599d32c6 100644
--- a/libs/core/langchain_core/utils/image.py
+++ b/libs/core/langchain_core/utils/image.py
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
-import base64
-import mimetypes
-
-
-def encode_image(image_path: str) -> str:
-    """Get base64 string from image URI."""
-    with open(image_path, "rb") as image_file:
-        return base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("utf-8")
-
-
-def image_to_data_url(image_path: str) -> str:
-    encoding = encode_image(image_path)
-    mime_type = mimetypes.guess_type(image_path)[0]
-    return f"data:{mime_type};base64,{encoding}"
+from typing import Any
+
+
+def __getattr__(name: str) -> Any:
+    if name in ("encode_image", "image_to_data_url"):
+        msg = (
+            f"'{name}' has been removed for security reasons.\n\n"
+            f"Usage of this utility in environments with user-input paths is a "
+            f"security vulnerability. Out of an abundance of caution, the utility "
+            f"has been removed to prevent possible misuse."
+        )
+        raise ValueError(msg)
+    raise AttributeError(name)
diff --git a/libs/core/pyproject.toml b/libs/core/pyproject.toml
index 573bf02038b8c..041719b4801ef 100644
--- a/libs/core/pyproject.toml
+++ b/libs/core/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "langchain-core"
-version = "0.1.52"
+version = "0.1.53"
 description = "Building applications with LLMs through composability"
 authors = []
 license = "MIT"