Heap use-after-free in Pillow TIFF encoding to in-memory buffer
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 11 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-416 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Pillow from 11.3.0 before 13.0.0 is affected. A heap use-after-free (CWE-416) occurs when libtiff rejects a tag while encoding TIFF data to an in-memory buffer, because the error path frees the buffer before the TIFF handle is closed. An attacker who influences TIFF tags that an application saves to BytesIO can crash the process and may enable code execution. A public exploit is linked in the references.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
Description from the CNA
Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 11.3.0 until 13.0.0, Pillow has a heap use-after-free when libtiff rejects a tag while encoding TIFF data to an in-memory buffer. When an application saves attacker-influenced TIFF tags to BytesIO, libtiff can reject a tag during encoding in ImagingLibTiffEncode; the error path then frees the output buffer without closing or clearing the TIFF handle, and later cleanup flushes through the write callback into freed memory, which can crash the process and may enable code execution. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| python-pillow | Pillow | 11.3.0 to before 13.0.0 | 13.0.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | pillow (PyPI) | 11.3.0 to before 13.0.0 | 13.0.0 | Patch available | GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm |
- Pillow Vendorpython-pillow Affected 11.3.0 to before 13.0.0 Fixed in 13.0.0 Patch available CNA
- pillow (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 11.3.0 to before 13.0.0 Fixed in 13.0.0 Patch available GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:python:pillow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 11.3.0 to before 13.0.0 | Vulnerable | python-pillow |
- cpe:2.3:a:python:pillow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.3.0 to before 13.0.0 Vulnerable ·python-pillow
Remediation
Upgrade Pillow to version 13.0.0 or later. Red Hat fixes Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 in RHSA-2026:94738, RHSA-2026:94721, RHSA-2026:94717, RHSA-2026:94715, RHSA-2026:94709 and RHSA-2026:94702. Red Hat lists no planned fix for Exploit Intelligence and lists the plan as none available for other affected products, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
- Fix · CNA Pillow (python-pillow) Fixed in 13.0.0
- Fix · GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm pillow (PyPI) Fixed in 13.0.0 Advisory →
Red Hat 6 advisories
- RHSA-2026:94738 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (CUDA)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-cuda-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:94721 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference Tech Preview 3.5.3 (Gaudi)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-gaudi-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:94717 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (Spyre)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-spyre-rhel9
Show 3 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:94715 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference Model Optimization Tools 3.5.3 (CUDA)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/model-opt-cuda-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:94709 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (ROCm)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-rocm-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:94702 Released 2026-11-03 · Red Hat rating CriticalRed Hat AI Inference 3.5.3 (CPU)
- Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 registry.redhat.io/rhaii/vllm-cpu-rhel9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Exploit Intelligence | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Lightspeed Core | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| OpenShift Lightspeed | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat AI Inference Server | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Lightspeed Services for OCP | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Quay 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Satellite 6 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:94702, RHSA-2026:94709, RHSA-2026:94715, RHSA-2026:94717, RHSA-2026:94721, RHSA-2026:94738 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-20 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-112396
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-20 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-21 Alias added: GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: PyPI/[email protected] · GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm
- 2026-10-21 CVSS score added · GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm
- 2026-10-21 Weakness changed · GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm
- 2026-10-21 5 new references · GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm
- 2026-10-26 CVSS score added · NVD
- 2026-10-27 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94717 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94715 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94709 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94738 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94702 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: RHSA-2026:94721 · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 · Red Hat
References
More python-pillow Pillow vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-76627 Out-of-bounds read in Pillow TIFF encoder ColorMap handling CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-76625 Quadratic-time denial of service in Pillow PDF save_all CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-76605 NULL pointer dereference in Pillow's Image.merge function CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-76604 Out-of-bounds read in Pillow TIFF decoding leaks heap memory CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-76602 Double free in Pillow ImagingScaleAffine on allocation failure CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-76600 GIF seek in Pillow keeps rejected size, allowing denial of service CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
Sources
- CVE-2026-112396 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-112396 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-4rr5-89j8-mwwm · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-112396 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences