Pillow Arrow export leaks stale heap memory when alignment is set
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · None · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 11 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-908 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Pillow versions from 11.2.1 before 13.0.0 are affected. Arrow export assumes that image rows are tightly contiguous, so it exports from the wrong buffer position when PILLOW_ALIGNMENT adds row padding (CWE-908). Applications that configure alignment and export images to Arrow can disclose one user's pixels or other process memory to another user.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
Description from the CNA
Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 11.2.1 until 13.0.0, Arrow export assumes that an image's rows are tightly contiguous and exports from im->blocks[0].ptr even when PILLOW_ALIGNMENT makes aligned_linesize include row padding or an aligned offset before the first row. The resulting Arrow buffer can include uninitialized padding, bytes preceding the first row, or stale heap contents from previously freed images. Applications that configure alignment and export images to Arrow can therefore disclose one user's pixels or other process memory to another user. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- 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 | 11.2.1 to before 13.0.0 | 13.0.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | Pillow (PyPI) | 11.2.1 to before 13.0.0 | 13.0.0 | Patch available | GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c |
- Pillow Vendorpython-pillow Affected 11.2.1 to before 13.0.0 Fixed in 13.0.0 Patch available CNA
- Pillow (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 11.2.1 to before 13.0.0 Fixed in 13.0.0 Patch available GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:python:pillow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 11.2.1 to before 13.0.0 | Vulnerable | python-pillow |
- cpe:2.3:a:python:pillow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.2.1 to before 13.0.0 Vulnerable ·python-pillow
Remediation
Upgrade Pillow to version 13.0.0 or later, which fixes the PyPI package. Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.5 is fixed by RHSA-2026:94738, RHSA-2026:94721, RHSA-2026:94717, RHSA-2026:94715, RHSA-2026:94709 and RHSA-2026:94702. Red Hat lists Exploit Intelligence with no fix planned, and lists Lightspeed Core, OpenShift Lightspeed, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and other products as affected without a fix.
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-654x-cwwv-5j9c 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: Low. 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
- 2026-10-21 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-114501
- 2026-10-23 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-23 Alias added: GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c
- 2026-10-23 Fix available: PyPI/[email protected] · GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score added · GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c
- 2026-10-23 Weakness changed · GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c
- 2026-10-23 6 new references · GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c
- 2026-10-27 CVSS score added · NVD
- 2026-10-30 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-30 Priority changed: LOW → HIGH
- 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
Advisory 2
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-2026-114501 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-114501 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-654x-cwwv-5j9c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-114501 · 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