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Medium

pypdf: Manipulated FlateDecode XFA streams can exhaust RAM

Type: advisorySources: OSV

pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. Prior to 6.7.3, an attacker who uses this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to the RAM being exhausted. This requires accessing the `xfa` property of a reader or writer and the corresponding stream being compressed using `/FlateDecode`. This has been fixed in pypdf 6.7.3. As a workaround, apply the patch manually.

Products
Not specified
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
Not specified
CVEs
CVE-2026-27888
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
2 Nov 2026, 18:32 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

pypdf: Manipulated FlateDecode XFA streams can exhaust RAM

core-osv · Original source

Published 26 Feb 2026, 00:42 UTC

pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. Prior to 6.7.3, an attacker who uses this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to the RAM being exhausted. This requires accessing the `xfa` property of a reader or writer and the corresponding stream being compressed using `/FlateDecode`. This has been fixed in pypdf 6.7.3. As a workaround, apply the patch manually.

osv:CVE-2026-27888
Complete source record
{
  "id": "f3f81bc4353566ea50ad44c0178eff35aac7e3a1f8d8f0bc66d6b46a0c5c39af",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-27888",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "pypdf: Manipulated FlateDecode XFA streams can exhaust RAM",
    "summary": "pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. Prior to 6.7.3, an attacker who uses this vulnerability can craft a PDF which leads to the RAM being exhausted. This requires accessing the `xfa` property of a reader or writer and the corresponding stream being compressed using `/FlateDecode`. This has been fixed in pypdf 6.7.3. As a workaround, apply the patch manually.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-27888",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-27888",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2026-27888",
        "GHSA-x7hp-r3qg-r3cj",
        "PYSEC-2026-3027"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V4",
          "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "05e6d3c03deaec6b16b53825465537ac9e7a1a14"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "7a4c8246ed48d9d328fb596942271da47b6d109c"
                }
              ],
              "database_specific": {
                "extracted_events": [
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:pypdf_project:pypdf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "6.7.3"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "CPE_RANGE"
                  },
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "fixed": "7a4c8246ed48d9d328fb596942271da47b6d109c"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "REFERENCES_COMMIT"
                  },
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "fixed": "05e6d3c03deaec6b16b53825465537ac9e7a1a14"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "REFERENCES_TAG",
                    "original_tag": "6.7.3"
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "versions": [
            "6.7.2",
            "6.7.1",
            "6.7.0",
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            "3.15.2",
            "3.15.1",
            "3.15.0",
            "3.14.0",
            "3.13.0",
            "3.12.2",
            "3.12.1",
            "3.12.0",
            "3.11.1",
            "3.11.0",
            "3.10.0",
            "3.9.1",
            "3.9.0",
            "3.8.1",
            "3.8.0",
            "3.7.1",
            "3.7.0",
            "3.6.0",
            "3.5.2",
            "3.5.1",
            "3.5.0",
            "3.4.1",
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            "1.28.2",
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            "1.27.9",
            "1.27.8",
            "1.27.7",
            "1.27.6",
            "1.27.5",
            "1.27.4",
            "1.27.3",
            "1.27.2",
            "1.27.1",
            "1.27.0",
            "v1.24",
            "1.26.0",
            "v1.25.1",
            "v1.25",
            "v1.23",
            "v1.22",
            "v1.21",
            "v1.20",
            "v1.19",
            "v1.18",
            "v1.17"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-27888.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:22.238792249Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/releases/tag/6.7.3",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/27xxx/CVE-2026-27888.json",
        "https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/security/advisories/GHSA-x7hp-r3qg-r3cj",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-27888",
        "https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/commit/7a4c8246ed48d9d328fb596942271da47b6d109c",
        "https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/3658"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cwe_ids": [
          "CWE-400"
        ],
        "cna_assigner": "GitHub_M",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/27xxx/CVE-2026-27888.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-27888",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 488531,
  "published_at": "2026-02-26T00:42:00.542+00:00"
}