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CVE-2026-96639: Pillow multi-frame loaders can reuse stale native image storage after mode transitions

• Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-10-21 · updated 2026-10-29
• Weakness: CWE-125

Description

Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 11.0.0 until 13.0.0, multi-frame loaders can retain an ImagingCore allocation created for a narrow frame mode while a later frame of the same dimensions changes the logical mode and decoder tiles to wider RGB or CMYK data. ImageFile.load_prepare() reuses the stale native storage because _im is non-null without verifying that its mode and size still match. Crafted PSD, MPO, DCX, or MIC frame transitions can then write wider pixels into the narrow allocation, causing native out-of-bounds writes and crashes. The MPO path can also cause a native over-read and, in demonstrated runtime-specific profiles, command execution. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.

Affected products

• python-pillow Pillow: from 11.0.0 before 13.0.0 — fixed in 13.0.0
• python-pillow Pillow: from 11.0.0, < 13.0.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: python-pillow Pillow 13.0.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/commit/78d97d994579aef81aafe123773d525f40f2522a
• https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/pull/10105
• https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/releases/tag/13.0.0
• https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/security/advisories/GHSA-v9pv-5gc8-w2m6

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