pypdf has possible long runtimes for malformed startxref
### Impact An attacker who exploits this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to possibly long runtimes for invalid `startxref` entries. When rebuilding the cross-reference table, PDF files with lots of whitespace characters become problematic. Only the non-strict reading mode is affected. ### Patches This has been fixed in [pypdf==6.6.0](https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/releases/tag/6.6.0). ### Workarounds ```python from pypdf import PdfReader, PdfWriter # Instead of reader = PdfReader("file.pdf") # use the strict mode: reader = PdfReader("file.pdf", strict=True) # Instead of writer = PdfWriter(clone_from="file.pdf") # use an explicit strict reader: writer = PdfWriter(clone_from=PdfReader("file.pdf", strict=True)) ``` ### Resources This issue has been fixed in #3594.
describes (1)
Related CVEs.
| ID | severity | exploitable | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-22691US | medium5.3 | — | ||
pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. Prior to version 6.6.0, pypdf has possible long runtimes for malformed startxref. An attacker who uses this vulnerability c… | ||||
references
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdfPACKAGE
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/commit/294165726b646bb7799be1cc787f593f2fdbcf45WEB
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/3594WEB
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/releases/tag/6.6.0WEB
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/security/advisories/GHSA-4f6g-68pf-7vhvWEB
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22691ADVISORY
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