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Response snapshot Oct 27, 2026, 00:32 UTC

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VulnerabilityCVE-2026-112403

Pillow: Heap buffer overflow in ImagingJpegDecode

`JpegImageFile.draft()` — which `Image.thumbnail()` calls automatically — requests 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 scaled JPEG output and shrinks `self._size` and the tile extents to match, so `_setimage()` allocates a single-row decode buffer of `ceil(W/s)` samples. `ImagingJpegDecode()` sets `cinfo.

Published Updated

At a glance

Exploited
Not known
Severity
9.2 Critical (CVSS 4.0)
Chance of exploitation
0.8% in the next 30 days
Sources
2 independent sources

What to do

GitHub lists first patched versions: Pillow: 13.0.0. Confirm the affected range and upgrade guidance in the exact advisory.

Read GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782 (opens a new tab)

What happened

## Summary

`JpegImageFile.draft()` — which `Image.thumbnail()` calls automatically — requests 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 scaled JPEG output and shrinks `self._size` and the tile extents to match, so `_setimage()` allocates a single-row decode buffer of `ceil(W/s)` samples. `ImagingJpegDecode()` sets `cinfo.scale_num`/`scale_denom`, calls `jpeg_start_decompress()`, and then reads scanlines into that buffer without ever comparing `cinfo.

output_width`, `cinfo.output_height` or `cinfo.out_color_components` against `state->xsize`, `state->ysize` and `state->bits`.

libjpeg-turbo 3.x decodes lossless (SOF3) JPEG, but hardwires lossless streams to no scaling — the requested `scale_denom` is silently discarded. It therefore returns full-width `W`-sample rows into a buffer sized for `ceil(W/s)`. Each `jpeg_read_scanlines()` call writes `(W - ceil(W/s)) x components` bytes past the end of the heap allocation, and the overflowing bytes are the decoded pixel values, which are byte-exact for an 8-bit grayscale lossless image.

Continue reading

The input is a standards-compliant JPEG, so `Image.open(..., formats=["JPEG"])` does not prevent it. Pillow's Python SOF parser already accepts marker `0xFFC3` ("SOF3", "Spatial lossless") at 8-bit precision, so the file opens normally as a `JPEG` / mode `L` image at its full declared size.

## Affected code

At `e41083f383c9cd3db95de52564cc0b6452313d4a` (`main`, 2026-08-29):

- `src/libImaging/JpegDecode.c:224-262` — `ImagingJpegDecode()`; `jpeg_start_decompress()` at :240, `jpeg_read_scanlines()` at :252, with no geometry check between them. - `src/decode.c:222-231` — `_setimage()`; `state->buffer = calloc(1, state->bytes)` with `state->bytes = (state->bits * state->xsize + 7) / 8`. - `src/PIL/JpegImagePlugin.py:428-464` — `JpegImageFile.

draft()`; computes `s` and shrinks `_size`, the tile extents and `decoderconfig` with no notion of lossless coding. - `src/PIL/JpegImagePlugin.py:271` — `0xFFC3: ("SOF3", "Spatial lossless", SOF)`.

```c // src/libImaging/JpegDecode.c if (context->scale > 1) { context->cinfo.scale_num = 1; context->cinfo.scale_denom = context->scale; } ... case 2: if (!jpeg_start_decompress(&context->cinfo)) { break; } state->state++; /* fall through */ case 3: ok = 1; while (state->y ysize) { ok = jpeg_read_scanlines(&context->cinfo, &state->buffer, 1); ```

Because `state->ysize` (`ceil(H/s)`) can never equal libjpeg's `output_height` when `s >= 2`, the decode always ends in an error after the rows have already been written: the caller sees an exception and gets no pixels back. The `OSError` is a consequence of the overflow, not the issue being reported.

## Primitive

Per scanline: a contiguous write of `(W - ceil(W/s)) x c` bytes immediately past a `calloc(ceil(W/s) x c)` block, where `c = 1` for mode `L` and 4 for RGB (RGBX) and CMYK; repeated for `ceil(H/s)` rows over the same region. The buffer size class is chosen by the attacker through `W`, and for grayscale the overflowing content is an arbitrary attacker-chosen byte string.

Measured in the reproducer below: 1200x1100 mode `L`, `s=2` — a 600-byte allocation, 600 bytes written past it, ASan reporting the whole 1200-byte row write as one `memcpy`.

Threshold: `draft()` must select `s >= 2`, i.e. `W // requested_w >= 2` and `H // requested_h >= 2`. For `thumbnail((256,256))` with the default `reducing_gap=2.0` that means `W, H >= 1024`.

## Reproduction

Self-contained Docker reproducer (Ubuntu 24.04, clang 20, libjpeg-turbo 3.1.4 and Pillow both built from source with `-fsanitize=address`; Pillow checked out at `${TARGET_COMMIT}`, default `e41083f383c9cd3db95de52564cc0b6452313d4a`). Save the three files below as `Dockerfile`, `make_sof3.py` and `trigger.py` in an empty directory, then:

```bash docker build -t pillow-sof3-oob . && docker run --rm pillow-sof3-oob ```

`make_sof3.py` is a self-contained encoder that emits a standards-compliant 8-bit grayscale lossless-Huffman JPEG (SOI / DHT / SOF3 `P=8, Y=1100, X=1200, Nf=1` / SOS `Ss=1` predictor 1, `Se=0`, `Ah=Al=0` / entropy-coded row differences / EOI), whose rows carry a repeating marker pattern. `trigger.py` opens it and calls `thumbnail()`, whose implicit `draft()` picks `s=2` and allocates a 600-byte row buffer.

### `Dockerfile`

```dockerfile FROM ubuntu:24.04 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive ARG TARGET_COMMIT=e41083f383c9cd3db95de52564cc0b6452313d4a ARG CLANG_VERSION=20 ARG LIBJPEG_TURBO_TAG=3.1.4

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \ ca-certificates git make cmake nasm pkg-config libc6-dev gcc \ wget gnupg lsb-release software-properties-common \ python3 python3-dev python3-pip python3-venv zlib1g-dev \ && wget -qO /tmp/llvm.sh https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh && chmod +x /tmp/llvm.sh && /tmp/llvm.

sh ${CLANG_VERSION} \ && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends clang-${CLANG_VERSION} llvm-${CLANG_VERSION} libclang-rt-${CLANG_VERSION}-dev \ && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

ENV CC=clang-20 ENV CXX=clang++-20 ENV CFLAGS="-g -fno-omit-frame-pointer -O1 -fsanitize=address" ENV CXXFLAGS="-g -fno-omit-frame-pointer -O1 -fsanitize=address" ENV LDFLAGS="-fsanitize=address"

# --- libjpeg-turbo 3.x (lossless SOF3 support) built with ASan --- RUN git clone https://github.com/libjpeg-turbo/libjpeg-turbo /src/libjpeg-turbo RUN cd /src/libjpeg-turbo && git checkout ${LIBJPEG_TURBO_TAG} \ && cmake -B /build/ljt -S .

-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=None \ -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang-20 \ -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="$CFLAGS" \ -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS="$LDFLAGS" \ -DCMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS="$LDFLAGS" \ -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/ljt -DWITH_JPEG8=0 -DENABLE_STATIC=0 \ && cmake --build /build/ljt -j"$(nproc)" && cmake --install /build/ljt

# --- Pillow at the pinned commit, built with ASan against that libjpeg --- RUN git clone https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow /src/repo WORKDIR /src/repo RUN git checkout ${TARGET_COMMIT}

ENV JPEG_ROOT=/opt/ljt ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/ljt/lib RUN python3 -m venv /venv \ && /venv/bin/pip inst

Affected package ranges reported by GitHub: Pillow: <= 12.3.0

Scores and how they were measured

CVSS base severity

9.2

Version 4.0As of

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Measurement source (opens a new tab)

How bad it is if exploited. Not a prediction of exploitation or proof you are exposed.

EPSS probability

0.8%

Scored Percentile 55.4%

Model and measurement source (opens a new tab)

A model's estimate of exploitation in the next 30 days, not certainty or your own risk.

Related technology

Sources

  1. Primary source

    GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782 (opens a new tab)

    The public advisory supplies the description, affected package/version ranges, and any listed CVSS metric. GitHub review is not local review.

    Published Checked

  2. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  3. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  4. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  5. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  6. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  7. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  8. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  9. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  10. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  11. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  12. Primary source

    NVD CVE-2026-112403 (opens a new tab)

    NVD record: description, CVSS (the CNA score is preferred), affected products, and publication date. Not evidence of exploitation.

    Published Checked

  13. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  14. Primary source

    FIRST measured EPSS score (opens a new tab)

    Measured EPSS probability and percentile for CVE-2026-112403, scored 2026-10-26. This is a model estimate, not proof of exposure.

    Published Checked

Cite this record

For factual claims, cite the primary sources above; cite KEVWire for its compilation, dates, and classifications.

APA

KEVWire. (2026, October 22). Pillow: Heap buffer overflow in ImagingJpegDecode (CVE-2026-112403). https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-112403

MLA

"Pillow: Heap buffer overflow in ImagingJpegDecode (CVE-2026-112403)." KEVWire, 22 Oct. 2026, kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-112403.

Chicago

KEVWire. "Pillow: Heap buffer overflow in ImagingJpegDecode (CVE-2026-112403)." Last modified October 22, 2026. https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-112403.

Evidence summary (plain text)

Pillow: Heap buffer overflow in ImagingJpegDecode (Oct 20, 2026).
`JpegImageFile.draft()` — which `Image.thumbnail()` calls automatically — requests 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 scaled JPEG output and shrinks `self._size` and the tile extents to match, so `_setimage()` allocates a single-row decode buffer of `ceil(W/s)` samples. `ImagingJpegDecode()` sets `cinfo.scale_num`/`scale_denom`, calls `jpeg_start_decompress()`, and then reads scanlines into that buffer without ever comparing `cinfo.output_width`, `cinfo.output_height` or `cinfo.out_color_components` against `state->xsize`, `state->ysize` and `state->bits`.

libjpeg-turbo 3.x decodes lossless (SOF3) JPEG, but hardwires lossless streams to no scaling — the requested `scale_denom` is silently discarded. It therefore returns full-width `W`-sample rows into a buffer sized for `ceil(W/s)`. Each `jpeg_read_scanlines()` call writes `(W - ceil(W/s)) x components` bytes past the end of the heap allocation, and the overflowing bytes are the decoded pixel values, which are byte-exact for an 8-bit grayscale lossless image.
CVSS 9.2 (version 4.0; evidence as of Oct 22, 2026; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-112403).
EPSS 0.8% for the following 30 days, scored Oct 26, 2026 (https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-112403&date=2026-10-26).
Sources:
GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-8g5g-8vmr-9782
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMlQxNTo1Mjo1NlrOAAfxiA%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMlQxNDowNjoxNFrOAAfxZw%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMlQwODoyNzoyM1rOAAYp9A%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMVQyMTozNTo1OFrOAAfwCQ%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMVQyMTozMDoxM1rOAAfv2A%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMVQyMToyODowOVrOAAfv1g%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMVQyMToyNDoyMFrOAAfv1Q%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMVQyMDo0NTowN1rOAAfvzQ%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMVQyMDozMDoyNlrOAAfvxw%3D%3D
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc&after=Y3Vyc29yOnYyOpK0MjAyNi0xMC0yMVQyMDowMzo1N1rOAAfvxQ%3D%3D
NVD CVE-2026-112403: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-112403
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?pubStartDate=2026-10-12T13:35:55.142Z&pubEndDate=2026-10-26T13:35:55.142Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=5500
FIRST measured EPSS score: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-112403&date=2026-10-26
Record ID: CVE-2026-112403.
Record origin: Ingested record.
AI evidence: Not assessed.
Known exploitation: Not assessed.
Zero-day status: Not assessed. KEV membership alone does not establish zero-day status.
About this data

This record was ingested from a data source. Retrieved: Oct 26, 2026, 19:40 UTC. Ingestion is not an independent editorial investigation.

A CISA KEV listing documents known exploitation, not necessarily a zero-day; absence from the catalog does not prove a vulnerability has never been exploited.

Technology tags indicate possible relevance, not verified exposure. Confirm the affected product, version, and configuration against your own inventory; KEVWire does not scan your systems.

A personal reading checklist on this device, not verified remediation.

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