CVE-2026-96640: Pillow PDF append accepts malformed shared page-tree DAG causing resource exhaustion

Description

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.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges

None

User interaction

None

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Scope

Unchanged

Exploitation

Is it being used?

Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.5% · higher than 44% of CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet

CISA KEVNot listed

Ransomware campaign useNot known

Affected products

Which versions

PI

Pillow · python-pillow

>= 5.1.0, < 13.0.0 · source: vendor, NVD