Sample PNG file (alpha gradient)

Handle it in code

Each snippet below was run against this exact file with Python 3.14.4 and Node 24.15.0 when this page was built, and the output shown is what it printed.

Python

Read the width and height from the header and refuse oversized images before any decoder allocates memory. A 265 KB PNG can declare 8000x8000 pixels, which decodes to 256 MB of RGBA. Pillow's default guard (Image.MAX_IMAGE_PIXELS, about 89 million pixels) lets a 64-million-pixel image through without a warning, so set your own limit.

import struct

MAX_PIXELS = 25_000_000  # a decoder needs about 4 bytes per pixel

def image_size(path):
    with open(path, "rb") as f:
        head = f.read(64 * 1024)
    if head[:8] == b"\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n":
        return "png", *struct.unpack(">II", head[16:24])
    if head[:6] in (b"GIF87a", b"GIF89a"):
        return "gif", *struct.unpack("<HH", head[6:10])
    if head[:2] == b"BM":
        w, h = struct.unpack("<ii", head[18:26])
        return "bmp", w, abs(h)  # a negative height means rows are stored top-down
    if head[:4] == b"RIFF" and head[8:12] == b"WEBP":
        chunk = head[12:16]
        if chunk == b"VP8 ":
            w, h = struct.unpack("<HH", head[26:30])
            return "webp", w & 0x3FFF, h & 0x3FFF
        if chunk == b"VP8L":
            bits = int.from_bytes(head[21:25], "little")
            return "webp", (bits & 0x3FFF) + 1, (bits >> 14 & 0x3FFF) + 1
        if chunk == b"VP8X":
            return "webp", int.from_bytes(head[24:27], "little") + 1, int.from_bytes(head[27:30], "little") + 1
    if head[:3] == b"\xff\xd8\xff":
        i = 2
        while i + 9 <= len(head) and head[i] == 0xFF:
            marker, length = head[i + 1], int.from_bytes(head[i + 2:i + 4], "big")
            if 0xC0 <= marker <= 0xCF and marker not in (0xC4, 0xC8, 0xCC):  # start of frame
                h, w = struct.unpack(">HH", head[i + 5:i + 9])
                return "jpg", w, h
            i += 2 + length
        raise ValueError("no JPEG frame header in the first 64 KB")
    raise ValueError("not a PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP or JPEG")

try:
    kind, w, h = image_size("png-alpha-gradient.png")
except ValueError as e:
    print("rejected:", e)
else:
    if w * h > MAX_PIXELS:
        print(f"refused: {kind} {w}x{h} is {w * h:,} pixels, over the {MAX_PIXELS:,} limit")
    else:
        print(f"ok: {kind} {w}x{h}")

Run against this file, it prints: ok: png 256x256

Node.js

The same header check in Node, before the upload reaches sharp, jimp or a canvas.

const fs = require('node:fs');

const MAX_PIXELS = 25_000_000; // a decoder needs about 4 bytes per pixel

function imageSize(file) {
  const buf = Buffer.alloc(64 * 1024);
  const fd = fs.openSync(file, 'r');
  const h = buf.subarray(0, fs.readSync(fd, buf, 0, buf.length, 0));
  fs.closeSync(fd);
  const ascii = (a, b) => h.toString('latin1', a, b);
  if (h.subarray(0, 8).equals(Buffer.from('89504e470d0a1a0a', 'hex'))) return ['png', h.readUInt32BE(16), h.readUInt32BE(20)];
  if (ascii(0, 6) === 'GIF87a' || ascii(0, 6) === 'GIF89a') return ['gif', h.readUInt16LE(6), h.readUInt16LE(8)];
  if (ascii(0, 2) === 'BM') return ['bmp', h.readInt32LE(18), Math.abs(h.readInt32LE(22))];
  if (ascii(0, 4) === 'RIFF' && ascii(8, 12) === 'WEBP') {
    const chunk = ascii(12, 16);
    if (chunk === 'VP8 ') return ['webp', h.readUInt16LE(26) & 0x3fff, h.readUInt16LE(28) & 0x3fff];
    if (chunk === 'VP8L') {
      const bits = h.readUInt32LE(21);
      return ['webp', (bits & 0x3fff) + 1, ((bits >>> 14) & 0x3fff) + 1];
    }
    if (chunk === 'VP8X') return ['webp', h.readUIntLE(24, 3) + 1, h.readUIntLE(27, 3) + 1];
  }
  if (h[0] === 0xff && h[1] === 0xd8 && h[2] === 0xff) {
    for (let i = 2; i + 9 <= h.length && h[i] === 0xff; i += 2 + h.readUInt16BE(i + 2)) {
      const m = h[i + 1];
      if (m >= 0xc0 && m <= 0xcf && ![0xc4, 0xc8, 0xcc].includes(m)) return ['jpg', h.readUInt16BE(i + 7), h.readUInt16BE(i + 5)];
    }
    throw new Error('no JPEG frame header in the first 64 KB');
  }
  throw new Error('not a PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP or JPEG');
}

try {
  const [kind, w, h] = imageSize('png-alpha-gradient.png');
  const n = (x) => x.toLocaleString('en-US');
  console.log(w * h > MAX_PIXELS
    ? 'refused: ' + kind + ' ' + w + 'x' + h + ' is ' + n(w * h) + ' pixels, over the ' + n(MAX_PIXELS) + ' limit'
    : 'ok: ' + kind + ' ' + w + 'x' + h);
} catch (e) {
  console.log('rejected:', e.message);
}

Run against this file, it prints: ok: png 256x256