high7.1
CVE-2026-96643
Pillow: PNG eXIf chunk makes EXIF parsing run in quadratic time
Impact
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.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| pip | Pillow | >= 11.0.0, < 13.0.0 | 13.0.0 |
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| Python | Pillow | from 11.0.0 before 13.0.0 |
Weakness classification
References
- NVD record
- CVE.org record
- GitHub advisory
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-g4qv-2jxx-769h
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/security/advisories/GHSA-g4qv-2jxx-769h
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96643
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/pull/10073
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/commit/806e38381c781f32bbd22f4cd026678acd40fd6c
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/releases/tag/13.0.0