Security Resilience

CVE-2023-44271

DoS in Python Pillow ≤ 10.0.0

Published
03 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.011 66th percentile
Risk Priority 60 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-44271 is a high-severity Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (CWE-770) vulnerability in Python Pillow. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Exhaustion Flood (T1499.001); ranked in the top 34% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An issue was discovered in Pillow before 10.0.0. It is a Denial of Service that uncontrollably allocates memory to process a given task, potentially causing a service to crash by having it run out of memory. This occurs for truetype…

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in ImageFont when textlength in an ImageDraw instance operates on a long text argument.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499.001 OS Exhaustion Flood Impact
Adversaries may launch a denial of service (DoS) attack targeting an endpoint's operating system (OS).
T1499.002 Service Exhaustion Flood Impact
Adversaries may target the different network services provided by systems to conduct a denial of service (DoS).
T1499.003 Application Exhaustion Flood Impact
Adversaries may target resource intensive features of applications to cause a denial of service (DoS), denying availability to those applications.
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-59200Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2024-23836Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-23837Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-4140Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-32660Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-31208Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-25193Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-45129Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-27013Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-29408Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora

Affected Assets

python
pillow
≤ 10.0.0
fedoraproject
fedora
38

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

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Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

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Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

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Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-770

This control implements explicit throttling on session allocation, addressing the weakness of allocating resources without limits.

addresses: CWE-770

Plan testing exercises resource allocation limits and throttling during simulated failures, directly addressing weaknesses that allow unbounded resource use.

addresses: CWE-770

Contingency plan updates ensure recovery strategies address unbounded resource allocation, making it harder for attackers to exploit lack of throttling to cause prolonged outages.

addresses: CWE-770

Provides continuity when unbounded resource allocation at the primary site leads to exhaustion and downtime.

addresses: CWE-770

Alternate services allow operations to continue when primary allocation of resources lacks limits or throttling.

addresses: CWE-770

Explicit planning of security-related actions requires defining limits, windows, and resource allocations, making allocation without throttling far less likely.

addresses: CWE-770

Measures of performance include tracking allocation behavior and throttling effectiveness, reducing the window for resource exhaustion attacks.

addresses: CWE-770

Imposes an inactivity-based limit on network resource allocation, throttling the number of concurrently held connections.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.IR-04 partial match
blocks

Monitoring capacity and taking action to maintain availability directly reduces unchecked resource allocation.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

removes
removes
removes
removes
removes

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248552 OL 8 must be configured so that all network connections associated with SSH traffic terminate after becoming unresponsive. blocks CWE-770
  • V-248553 OL 8 must be configured so that all network connections associated with SSH traffic are terminated after 10 minutes of becoming unresponsive. blocks CWE-770
Oracle Linux 9 (2 rules)
  • V-271710 OL 9 must be configured so that all network connections associated with SSH traffic are terminated after 10 minutes of becoming unresponsive. blocks CWE-770
  • V-271709 OL 9 must be configured so that all network connections associated with SSH traffic terminate after becoming unresponsive. blocks CWE-770
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230244 RHEL 8 must be configured so that all network connections associated with SSH traffic terminate after becoming unresponsive. blocks CWE-770

References