Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-27888 is a medium-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Pypdf Project Pypdf. Its CVSS base score is 6.6 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Exhaustion Flood (T1499.001); ranked at the 28th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-5 (Denial-of-service Protection) and SC-6 (Resource Availability) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-27888 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in pypdf, a free and open-source pure-Python PDF library. Versions prior to 6.7.3 are affected, where accessing the `xfa` property of a reader or writer object on a PDF with a stream compressed using `/FlateDecode` can lead to RAM exhaustion. The issue is classified under CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
An unauthenticated attacker (PR:N) can exploit this remotely (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N) by crafting a malicious PDF file. Upon processing the file and accessing the vulnerable `xfa` property, the library exhausts available RAM, resulting in high-impact availability disruption (A:H) without affecting confidentiality or integrity.
The vulnerability has been fixed in pypdf version 6.7.3. Mitigation involves upgrading to this version, with a manual patch available as a workaround. Relevant advisories and resources include the GitHub security advisory (GHSA-x7hp-r3qg-r3cj), the fixing commit (7a4c8246ed48d9d328fb596942271da47b6d109c), pull request #3658, and the release notes for v6.7.3.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-8791
Vulnerability Data
pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. Prior to 6.7.3, an attacker who uses this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to the RAM being exhausted. This requires accessing the `xfa` property of a reader or writer…
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and the corresponding stream being compressed using `/FlateDecode`. This has been fixed in pypdf 6.7.3. As a workaround, apply the patch manually.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
SC-5 directly limits the effects of resource-exhaustion events that constitute uncontrolled consumption.
SC-6 enforces explicit allocation limits on resources, structurally preventing the weakness from occurring.
Process isolation confines resource consumption to separate domains, reducing blast radius without stopping the root flaw.
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.
Explicitly requires monitoring and maintaining resource capacity, directly addressing uncontrolled consumption to preserve availability.
Continuous monitoring of computing resources can detect resource exhaustion but does not itself enforce allocation limits.
Resilience mechanisms such as avoiding single points of failure indirectly reduce impact of resource exhaustion.
Hardened configuration baselines can include resource quotas and limits that constrain consumption.
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.
Resource-utilization monitoring and alerting on bottlenecks or overloads limits the impact of denial-of-service or resource-exhaustion attacks.
By continuously monitoring utilization, stress-testing peak loads, and maintaining documented plans to scale or throttle resources, the control directly limits an attacker’s ability to drive a system into uncontrolled resource exhaustion.
Pre-agreed severity-based prioritization and resource allocation during incident triage reduce the likelihood that an attacker-induced resource exhaustion will overwhelm the organization before corrective action is taken.
Business-continuity plans that include resource-management controls reduce the likelihood that an attacker can trigger uncontrolled resource consumption by forcing the system into a degraded or fallback state.
Defining RTOs and capacity requirements for ICT services during business-impact analysis forces organizations to provision sufficient resources and throttling mechanisms, reducing the likelihood that an attacker can induce denial-of-service through uncontrolled resource consumption.
Early notification of anomalous resource consumption or system malfunctions enables throttling or isolation before availability is lost.