Answer in brief
CVE-2026-96640 records a High severity (CVSS 8.2) vulnerability in Pillow PDF append accepts malformed shared page-tree DAG causing resource exhaustion. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps python-pillow/Pillow (generic). 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 python-pillow/Pillow (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| python-pillow/Pillowgeneric | >=5.1.0 <13.0.0 | 13.0.0 |
Published upstream
Oct 21, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Oct 21, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Oct 21, 2026
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.
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.