Skip to main content
VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-55197: Psutils · PyPDF's Manipulated FlateDecode streams can exhaust RAM

Affects psutilsSource GCVE Database

0
Compare
Authoritative record:CVE-2025-55197· Medium 6.6

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.6 Medium : upgrade to 3.3.11_1 when convenient.

Data as of 1 Nov 2026, 00:22 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
6.6Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
Patch
Available – fixed in 3.3.11_1
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

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 13 Aug 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 31 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade psutils to 3.3.11_1.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Homebrewpsutilspkg:brew/psutilsOther threatsAffected
  • >=3.0 <3.3.11_1
Fixed in
  • 3.3.11_1

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade psutils to version 3.3.11_1 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. If upgrading immediately is not possible, implement the workaround for the 'pypdf.filters.decompress' function as described in the linked source code to mitigate the issue.

Description

CVE-2025-55197 is a high-severity vulnerability in psutils affecting PyPDF's handling of FlateDecode streams. An attacker can craft a malicious PDF that exhausts system RAM simply by reading it if the PDF uses a series of FlateDecode filters on a cross-reference stream. This vulnerability affects versions >=3.0 and <3.3.11_1 of psutils and has been fixed in version 3.3.11_1.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…