PillowApplication · Python
CVE-2014-3598
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Jpeg2KImagePlugin plugin in Pillow before 2.5.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted image.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · low confidenceThe Jpeg2KImagePlugin in Pillow before version 2.5.3 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service by providing a specially crafted JPEG 2000 image file. When the plugin processes the malicious image, it triggers the DoS condition, likely through malformed parsing of the image data.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
PillowApplication
<= 2.5.2= 13.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Pillow is installedRun 'pip show pillow' or 'python -c "import PIL; print(PIL.__version__)"' to verify Pillow is present and retrieve its version numberAffected if Pillow is not installed or the version cannot be determined
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Compare installed version to affected rangeCheck if the installed Pillow version is 2.5.2 or lower. Compare the version number against the affected range: <= 2.5.2Affected if The installed version is 2.5.2 or any version lower than 2.5.2
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Verify Jpeg2KImagePlugin is availableRun 'python -c "from PIL import Jpeg2KImagePlugin; print(Jpeg2KImagePlugin)"' to confirm the plugin module loads without errorAffected if The Jpeg2KImagePlugin module is present and can be imported
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Identify if JPEG 2000 image processing occursSearch application code, configs, or logs for .jp2, .j2k, or JPEG2000 file handling. Inspect any image upload or processing functionality for JPEG 2000 supportAffected if The application or environment processes or accepts JPEG 2000 image files from any source
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Check for untrusted image handlingReview whether the application processes images from untrusted sources (user uploads, external APIs, network paths) that could include specially crafted JPEG 2000 filesAffected if The environment processes untrusted or user-submitted JPEG 2000 images
You are affected if Pillow version 2.5.2 or lower is installed AND your environment loads or processes JPEG 2000 images, especially from untrusted sources.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Pillow to version 2.5.3 or later to remediate this vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, disable or avoid processing untrusted JPEG 2000 images until the patch can be applied.
Fix this in Pillow
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-3598 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-3598 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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