CVE-2026-96643
Pillow: PNG eXIf chunk makes EXIF parsing run in quadratic time
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- GitHub_M
Description
Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 11.0.0 until 13.0.0, Exif.load() in src/PIL/Image.py repeatedly slices the remaining EXIF data while it begins with the six-byte Exif header. src/PIL/PngImagePlugin.py accepts an uncapped PNG eXIf chunk, so a file filled with repeated headers causes a new shrinking copy on every iteration and quadratic CPU work. The condition is reachable through Image.getexif(), Image._getexif(), and ImageOps.exif_transpose(), including common photo-upload rotation workflows. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 4.0 | High7.1 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 4.0 | High7.1 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/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 |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.37% · top 69% of all CVEs (5 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.1.
Weakness
Affected products
- affected >= 11.0.0, < 13.0.0
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIPillowGHSA-g4qv-2jxx-769h (opens in a new tab)
References (4)
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/security/advisories/GHSA-g4qv-2jxx-769h (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/pull/10073 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/commit/806e38381c781f32bbd22f4cd026678acd40fd6c (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/releases/tag/13.0.0 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-g4qv-2jxx-769h (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2026-96643)Record last updated .