Most recent entries from all

fkie_cve-2026-96640

2026-10-23T18:26:26.738640+00:00

Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 5.1.0 until 13.0.0, PdfParser.linearize_page_tree() in src/PIL/PdfParser.py treats a PDF /Pages graph as a tree without tracking duplicate indirect references. When Image.save(..., format="PDF", append=True) processes an attacker-controlled existing PDF whose /Kids arrays repeatedly reference the same child /Pages node, Pillow expands the shared subtree as distinct pages. A compact malformed PDF can therefore create exponentially many page references and consume disproportionate CPU before the append completes. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.

GHSA-mrfp-p49p-3hf2 — Pillow PDF append accepts malformed shared page-tree DAG causing resource exhaustion

2026-10-23T18:26:26.738752+00:00

Affected: PyPI: Pillow

### Summary Pillow's documented PDF append path can spend disproportionate CPU time on a compact malformed PDF page tree.

An attacker who can supply an existing PDF to an application that appends an image with `Image.save(..., format="PDF", append=True)` can provide a malformed `/Pages` tree where each level repeats the same child `/Pages` reference in `/Kids`. Pillow treats the graph as a tree and expands each repeated reference in `PdfParser.linearize_page_tree()` without tracking visited or duplicate indirect references.

In the bounded proof below, a `1410`-byte PDF expands to `8192` page references from one distinct page object and takes about `9.6` seconds through the append path. A comparable linear control with the same depth stays at one page reference and completes in about `0.02` seconds.

This is in scope for Pillow's security policy because it is reproducible in `main`, affects the latest public release tested (`12.3.0`), and is not just an unexpected Python exception. The vulnerable operation accepts attacker-controlled PDF bytes through Pillow's PDF parser and causes deterministic resource consumption before normal completion.

### Details

#### Affected versions

- Package: `Pillow` - Ecosystem: `pip` / PyPI - Affected component: `src/PIL/PdfParser.py` page-tree traversal reached from `src/PIL/PdfImagePlugin.py` PDF append handling - Runtime-tested affected release: `12.3.0` - Runtime-tested affected development version: `13.0.0.dev0` - Tested commit: `b39b9…

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-96640

2026-10-23T18:26:26.738894+00:00

Affected: Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS: pillow, Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS: pillow, Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS: pillow, Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS: pillow, Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS: pillow-python2, Ubuntu:22.04:LTS: pillow, Ubuntu:24.04:LTS: pillow, Ubuntu:26.10: pillow, Ubuntu:26.04:LTS: pillow

(Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 5.1.0 until 13.0.0, PdfParser ...)