Medium [CVE-2026-57204] Denial of Service via crafted PDF with missing stream length
This medium-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-57204 affecting Exploit Intelligence, OpenShift Lightspeed, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.
Aggregated and source-linked by VulniPulse. Data sources, validation and limitations.
VulniPulse record published Record updated
Summary
pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. Prior to 6.13.3, a maliciously crafted PDF can cause DoS.
An attacker who uses this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to large memory usage, as MAX_DECLARED_STREAM_LENGTH is sometimes ignored. This requires parsing a content stream without a /Length value.
This issue has been fixed in version 6.13.3. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious PDF file that, when parsed, leads to uncontrolled resource consumption and large memory usage.
This occurs because the library sometimes ignores defined limits for stream lengths when a content stream lacks a /Length value. Successful exploitation could result in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition, making the system or application unavailable.
This Moderate flaw in pypdf can lead to a Denial of Service (DoS) due to uncontrolled memory consumption when processing a specially crafted PDF file. The vulnerability arises from the library's failure to properly enforce stream length limits in certain scenarios, allowing an attacker to exhaust system resources.
Red Hat products that process untrusted PDF content, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI, Red Hat Quay, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, and OpenShift Lightspeed, are affected if they handle untrusted PDF inputs.
Is CVE-2026-57204 exploited?
No exploitation is reported in the sources VulniPulse tracks: CVE-2026-57204 is not in the CISA KEV catalog (checked ) and this advisory does not report exploitation. That is not proof the vulnerability cannot be exploited.
How do I fix CVE-2026-57204?
Upgrade to a fixed release named by Red Hat:
- 6.13.3
Confirm against the vendor advisory before you patch.
- < 6.13.3
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 days ago·verify at source
Mitigation checklist
- To mitigate this issue, Red Hat recommends avoiding the processing of untrusted PDF files with applications utilizing the pypdf library. Additionally, deploying applications that handle PDF content within a sandboxed environment can limit the potential impact of successful exploitation.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 12 days ago·verify at source
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