Pillow: BMP RLE decoder memory-amplification DoS via unbounded delta escape / absolute mode
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-96638 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | GitHub_M |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-21 21:20:32 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-21 21:20:32 UTC |
| Description | Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 9.1.0 until 13.0.0, BmpRleDecoder.decode() in src/PIL/BmpImagePlugin.py permits crafted RLE BMP delta escapes and absolute-mode runs to append beyond the remaining dest_length without a per-branch cap. A delta can add roughly 255 image rows in one iteration, so a kilobyte-sized file with a large but permitted width can expand the data bytearray to hundreds of megabytes or more, causing memory-exhaustion denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 6.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Problem Types: CWE-400 | CWE-770 | CWE-400 CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption | CWE-770 CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | DECLARED | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
RequiredScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Python-pillow | Pillow | affected >= 9.1.0, < 13.0.0 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/security/advisories/GHSA-24rc-8hj2-v98c | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/pull/10015 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/releases/tag/13.0.0 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/commit/e7794835e323ff2691d9b3a974cade1a4... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.