{"id":"CVE-2026-115572","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-115572","GHSA-6c7f-9265-g8fw"],"related":[],"title":"pypdf: Possible long runtimes for repeated references to the same missing object","description":"### Impact\n\nAn attacker who uses this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to long runtimes. This requires loading relevant parts of a file (like their pages) where the same, but non-existent indirect object is referenced multiple times.\n\n### Patches\n\nThis has been fixed in [pypdf==6.21.2](https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/releases/tag/6.21.2).\n\n### Workarounds\n\nIf you cannot upgrade yet, consider applying the changes from PR [#4240](https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/4240).","summary":"pypdf, a Python PDF library, takes a very long time to process a crafted PDF that references the same missing object many times. An attacker who gets such a file in front of your parser can tie up CPU and stall the worker (denial of service).","severity":"high","cvss":7.1,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[{"name":"pypdf","fixed":["6.21.2"],"affected":"< 6.21.2","ecosystem":"pypi"}],"ecosystems":["pypi"],"tags":["cwe-400","package","pdf-processing","pypdf","python"],"not_affected_if":["no-untrusted-pdfs","pypdf-6.21.2-or-later","pypdf-not-installed"],"how_to_check":"pip show pypdf (or check requirements/lock files) and look for a version below 6.21.2.","fix":"Upgrade pypdf to 6.21.2 or later.\nIf you cannot upgrade yet, apply the changes from PR #4240 (https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/4240).","status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-23T20:17:20+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T20:59:05+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T21:00:28+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:34+00:00","category":"package","confidence":0.8,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T21:00:28Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Upgrade pypdf to 6.21.2 or later.\nIf you cannot upgrade yet, apply the changes from PR #4240 (https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/4240).","reach":"unknown","impact":"low","summary":"pypdf, a Python PDF library, takes a very long time to process a crafted PDF that references the same missing object many times. An attacker who gets such a file in front of your parser can tie up CPU and stall the worker (denial of service).","category":"package","who_cares":["python","pypdf","pdf-processing"],"confidence":0.8,"needs_auth":"unknown","worst_case":"Attacker stalls PDF processing with long runtimes, causing denial of service.","analyst_note":"","how_to_check":"pip show pypdf (or check requirements/lock files) and look for a version below 6.21.2.\nunknown","needs_analyst":false,"not_affected_if":["pypdf-not-installed","pypdf-6.21.2-or-later","no-untrusted-pdfs"],"user_interaction":"unknown","needs_special_setup":"no","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000488,"input_tokens":2904,"output_tokens":395,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-115572':15A,23A '-2026':14A,22A '-400':26B '/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/4240).':145C '/py-pdf/pypdf/releases/tag/6.21.2).':129C '4240':142C '6.21.2':126C '6c7f':18A '9265':19A 'appli':137C 'attack':57B,81C 'cannot':133C 'chang':139C 'consid':136C 'cpu':71B 'craft':46B,87C 'cve':13A,21A 'cwe':25B 'denial':76B 'exist':112C 'file':62B,102C 'fix':123C 'front':64B 'g8fw':20A 'get':59B 'ghsa':17A 'ghsa-6c7f':16A 'github.com':128C,144C 'github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/4240).':143C 'github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/releases/tag/6.21.2).':127C 'impact':79C 'indirect':113C 'lead':91C 'librari':37B 'like':103C 'load':97C 'long':3A,41B,93C 'mani':54B 'miss':11A,52B 'multipl':117C 'non':111C 'non-exist':110C 'object':12A,53B,114C 'packag':27B 'page':105C 'parser':67B 'part':99C 'patch':119C 'pdf':29B,36B,47B,89C 'pdf-process':28B 'possibl':2A 'pr':141C 'process':30B,44B 'pypdf':1A,24A,31B,33B,125C 'python':32B,35B 'refer':7A,49B 'referenc':116C 'relev':98C 'repeat':6A 'requir':96C 'runtim':4A,94C 'servic':78B 'stall':73B 'take':38B 'tie':69B 'time':42B,55B,118C 'upgrad':134C 'use':83C 'vulner':85C 'workaround':130C 'worker':75B 'yet':135C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-23T20:17:20+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/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","cvss_by":"security-advisories@github.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"ghsa","external_id":"GHSA-6c7f-9265-g8fw","url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6c7f-9265-g8fw","severity":"high","published_at":"2026-10-23T20:55:15+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-23T20:55:16+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T20:59:05+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T20:59:05+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-115572","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-115572","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-23T20:17:20+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-23T20:17:20+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:34+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}