CVE-2026-28804 pypdf: Inefficient decoding of ASCIIHexDecode streams
An attacker can cause excessive CPU consumption and long runtimes by crafting a PDF with a specific ASCIIHexDecode stream, affecting applications using the pypdf library.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-28804?
CVE-2026-28804 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Pypdf Project Pypdf, published on 6 Mar 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. Prior to version 6.7.5, an attacker who uses this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to long runtimes. This requires accessing a stream which uses the /ASCIIHexDecode filter. This issue has been patched in version 6.7.5.
Weakness: CWE-407
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-28804?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including pypdf. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
pypdf PyPI | All versions | 6.7.5 |
pypdf PyPI | All versions | 6.7.5 |
pypdf PyPI | All versions | 6.7.5 |
Linux distribution packages (1)
python-PyPDF2 openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 2.11.1-6.1 |
Products include Pypdf Project Pypdf.
How do I fix CVE-2026-28804?
Upgrade pypdf to 6.7.5 or later.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-28804 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-28804 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Pypdf Project Pypdf
- CVE-2026-102993 pypdf: Possible large memory usage when retrieving Roman page labels
- CVE-2026-102994 pypdf: Possible long runtimes/large memory usage when parsing indirect objects
- CVE-2026-102995 pypdf: Possible large memory usage for large /ToUnicode streams (Follow-up 2)
- CVE-2026-102996 pypdf: Possible large memory usage when parsing font data
- CVE-2026-102997 pypdf: Possible long runtimes for partially malformed FlateDecode streams (Follow-up)
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-28804, GHSA-9m86-7pmv-2852, PYSEC-2026-3014, ROOT-APP-PYPI-CVE-2026-28804, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-28804, openSUSE-SU-2026:10321-1.