Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2026-22690 is a low-severity denial-of-service issue in pypdf before 6.6.0. A specially malformed PDF can make affected applications spend unusually long time parsing an invalid file. The impact is availability, not data theft or code execution, and only non-strict reading mode is reported affected.
Executive priority
Handle through normal patch management unless the organization processes high volumes of untrusted PDFs. Prioritize internet-facing upload services and automation pipelines where parser delays could degrade service availability.
Technical view
pypdf before 6.6.0 can experience long runtimes when processing PDFs missing the trailer /Root entry while declaring a large /Size value. The advisory maps this to CWE-400 resource consumption. CVSS 4.0 is 2.7, with low availability impact. Version 6.6.0 contains the patch.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in Python applications or services that use pypdf below 6.6.0 to process PDFs, especially untrusted uploads, email attachments, or user-supplied documents. Applications using non-strict reading mode are the reported affected configuration.
Exploitation context
The CVE record and advisory describe attacker-crafted invalid PDFs causing long runtimes. CISA KEV is not indicated, and the provided sources do not report active exploitation. No confidentiality or integrity impact is described.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE data and upstream GitHub materials. The issue is a resource-consumption weakness in invalid-file handling, not a memory corruption or RCE report. The patch is identified as pypdf 6.6.0, with supporting pull request, commit, and release references.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade pypdf to version 6.6.0 or later.
- Identify services that process untrusted PDFs using pypdf.
- Prefer strict reading mode where application compatibility permits.
- Apply resource limits and timeouts around PDF processing workflows.
- Monitor vendor advisory and release notes for follow-up guidance.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Python dependencies for pypdf versions below 6.6.0.
- Confirm whether affected applications use non-strict PDF reading mode.
- Review PDF processing logs for parsing delays, worker exhaustion, or timeouts.
- Verify deployment artifacts include pypdf 6.6.0 or later after remediation.
- Check CI dependency scans for remaining vulnerable pypdf references.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-400: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-22690 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Low
- CVSS
- 2.7 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U——Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
2.7LowVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/security/advisories/GHSA-4xc4-762w-m6cgCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/pull/3594CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/commit/294165726b646bb7799be1cc787f593f2fdbcf45CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/py-pdf/pypdf/releases/tag/6.6.0CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.