Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-42310

DoS in Python Pillow 4.2.0 – 12.2.0

Published
09 May 2026
Modified
24 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 5.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/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:X
EPSS Score 0.0013 3th percentile
Risk Priority 28 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-42310 is a medium-severity Infinite Loop (CWE-835) vulnerability in Python Pillow. Its CVSS base score is 5.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as Computer Vision; in the Data-Related Vulnerabilities risk domain.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Pillow is a Python imaging library. From version 4.2.0 to before version 12.2.0, an attacker can supply a malicious PDF that causes the process to hang indefinitely, consuming 100% CPU and making the application unresponsive. This issue has been patched…

more

in version 12.2.0.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
Computer Vision
Risk Domain
Data-Related Vulnerabilities
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: pillow

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
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.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-59203Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-40192Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-54060Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-54059Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-55379Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-55380Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-42311Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-42308Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2026-25990Same product: Python Pillow
CVE-2025-48379Same product: Python Pillow

Affected Assets

python
pillow
4.2.0 — 12.2.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover unreachable loop exit conditions through static analysis, fuzzing, or execution tracing.

Flaw remediation processes identify and correct infinite-loop defects reported from testing or operations.

Requiring documented development processes and secure coding standards reduces introduction of loops whose termination conditions are unreachable.

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.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (reviews, testing, static analysis) directly prevent introduction of infinite-loop defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Static analysis and vuln scanning during asset assessment can detect unreachable loop exits.

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.

finds

Security testing can uncover infinite-loop conditions before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that can detect and prevent infinite-loop defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify loop-termination rules, indirectly reducing the weakness.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly address loop termination and prevent infinite loops.

none

Secure architecture principles encourage designs that avoid unreachable exit conditions.

none

Change management can require review of loop logic when code is modified.

References