GHSA-vjc4-5qp5-m44j: Pillow JPEG2000 tiled decode retains a growing scratch buffer and can be used for denial of service
Summary
src/libImaging/Jpeg2KDecode.c:853 accumulates total_component_width across every tile in a JPEG2000 image instead of recomputing it per tile. That accumulated value is then used in the tile_bytes calculation at src/libImaging/Jpeg2KDecode.c:868, which can make the decoder grow state->buffer via realloc at src/libImaging/Jpeg2KDecode.c:876 up to roughly one full image's decompressed size even when each tile is small. A crafted tiled JPEG2000 file can therefore force substantially higher transient memory usage and trigger out-of-memory failures during decoding. Based on current evidence, the supported impact is denial of service, not memory corruption.
Details
- Location: src/libImaging/Jpeg2KDecode.c:853
- Root cause: total_component_width is initialized only once before the tile loop and keeps growing across tiles. It is then used to derive tile_bytes, so later tiles are treated as if they had the combined component width of all earlier tiles.
- Dangerous operation: tile_bytes is promoted into tile_info.data_size, then state->buffer is grown with realloc at src/libImaging/Jpeg2KDecode.c:876.
- Reachability: any attacker-controlled JPEG2000 image with many tiles reaches this path during normal Image.open(...).load() decoding.
PoC
The attached helper script and testcase were used:
exercise_j2k_tile_realloc.zip
Generate the testcase:
pythonexercise_j2k_tile_realloc.py make poc_3664_rgba_tile1832.jp2 \
--size 3664 --tile 1832
Expected geometry from the helper:
- image size: 3664 x 3664
- mode: RGBA
- tile size: 1832 x 1832 (2x2 tiles)
- image_bytes=53699584
- uncapped RSS observed:
- vulnerable build: maxrss_kb=180264
- fixed comparison build: maxrss_kb=138404
Load it with the current vulnerable build:
python exercise_j2k_tile_realloc.py load poc_3664_rgba_tile1832.jp2
Load it again under a 160 MB address-space cap:
python exercise_j2k_tile_realloc.py load poc_3664_rgba_tile1832.jp2 --limit-mb 160
Impact
Conservative impact: denial of service through
Details
Original advisory: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-vjc4-5qp5-m44j
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-592040.39% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 32% of all scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-59204 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
Same CVEs, other sources
How other CERTs, PSIRTs and databases cover the vulnerabilities in this advisory.
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