CVE-2026-59203: Pillow EpsImagePlugin negative %%BeginBinary byte count causes infinite loop denial of service
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.39% (FIRST EPSS).
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
- Fixed version: python-pillow Pillow 12.3.0.
- Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 5.3, NVD 7.5.
- Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).
Low priority for now. Upgrade to python-pillow Pillow 12.3.0 or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 12.0.0 through 12.2.0, Pillow's EPS parser in PIL/EpsImagePlugin.py accepts a negative byte count in the %%BeginBinary directive, allowing a crafted EPS file to cause Image.open() to seek backwards to the same directive and parse it repeatedly in an infinite loop. This issue is fixed in version 12.3.0.
- Published
- Jul 14, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 24, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.3% · 34th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-835
Report tools
Action score
30
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.3%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- proof of concept
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 7.5
- CNA · GitHub_M
- 5.3
- 2.2 point gap
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| python | pillow | cpe:2.3:a:python:pillow |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- python pillow12.0.0 and later · before 12.3.0
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
python-pillow Pillow
- >= 12.0.0, < 12.3.0affected
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:14 | pillow | before 12.3.0-1 | 12.3.0-1 |
| PyPI | pillow | from 12.0.0 · before 12.3.0 | 12.3.0 |
Same product
python: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2014-3007Python Image Library (PIL) 1.1.7 and earlier and Pillow 2.3 might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharact43Plan
- CVE-2016-4009Integer overflow in the ImagingResampleHorizontal function in libImaging/Resample.c in Pillow before 3.1.1 allows remote attackers to have u41Plan
- CVE-2022-30595libImaging/TgaRleDecode.c in Pillow 9.1.0 has a heap buffer overflow in the processing of invalid TGA image files.40Plan
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2026-59198Jul 14, 2026 · Pillow TGA RLE encoder can serialize up to ~57 KB of adjacent heap data into generated images30Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2026-59199Jul 14, 2026 · Pillow: Heap out-of-bounds write `Image.paste()` / `Image.crop()` via signed coordinate overflow30Monitor
- Later →CVE-2026-59204Jul 14, 2026 · Pillow JPEG2000 tiled decode retains a growing scratch buffer and can be used for denial of service34Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| python-pillow Pillow | 12.3.0 · description | Vendor (CNA) |
| debian:pillow | 12.3.0-1 · Debian:14 | Package registry (OSV) |
| PyPI:pillow | 12.3.0 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
- CVE-2026-11240697 days apartPillow: Infinite loop in PdfParser.rewrite_pages on page tree Parent cycle34Monitor
- CVE-2026-11239097 days apartPillow: Infinite loop in MIC n_frames when the embedded TIFF32Monitor
- CVE-2026-9664299 days apartPillow: TarIO negative size field causes infinite CPU-spin loop28Monitor
- CVE-2026-11239197 days apartPillow: PdfParser can recurse without limit in get_value() and linearize_page_tree()25Monitor
- CVE-2026-4231066 days apartPillow: PDF Parsing Trailer Infinite Loop (DoS)20Monitor
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)
Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.
- TR-26-1401 · Oct 27, 2026(vLLM Güvenlik Zafiyeti)
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- none
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- None
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-835 · Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Show all references (2 more)Show less
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.