BUG: Fix PdfReadError when xref table contains comments before trailer#3710
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stefan6419846 merged 1 commit intopy-pdf:mainfrom Apr 7, 2026
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Some PDF producers (e.g. Vectorizer.AI) insert legal PDF comments (% to end of line) between the last xref table entry and the `trailer` keyword. The `_read_standard_xref_table` method did not skip comments at this position, causing it to misparse the `%` character and ultimately raise `PdfReadError: Could not read Boolean object`. The fix adds a loop after reading xref entries that calls `skip_over_comment()` to consume any comment lines before checking for the `trailer` tag. This is consistent with PDF spec §7.2.3 which allows comments anywhere except inside strings or streams.
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## What's new ### Security (SEC) - Disallow custom XML entity declarations for XMP metadata (#3724) by @stefan6419846 ### New Features (ENH) - Skip MD5 key derivation for AES-256 encrypted PDFs (#3694) by @Ygnas ### Bug Fixes (BUG) - Use remove_orphans in compress_identical_objects (#3310) by @j-t-1 - Fix PdfReadError when xref table contains comments before trailer (#3710) by @rassie - Correctly verify AES padding during decryption (#3699) by @stefan6419846 - Fix stale object cache from non-authoritative object streams (#3698) by @astahlman - Fix extract_links pairing when annotations include non-links (#3687) by @ReinerBRO ### Documentation (DOC) - Add AI policy (#3717) by @stefan6419846 [Full Changelog](6.9.2...6.10.0)
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Closes #3709.
Summary
%to EOL) between xref table entries and thetrailerkeyword in_read_standard_xref_tablePdfReadError: Could not read Boolean objectbecauseread_non_whitespace()stops at%and the parser misinterpretstraileras a boolean tokenChanges
pypdf/_reader.py: Added a loop after reading xref entries that callsskip_over_comment()to consume any comment lines before checking for thetrailertagtests/test_reader.py: Addedtest_xref_table_with_comments_before_trailerwith an inline minimal PDF reproducer containing comment lines between xref entries and trailerTest plan
test_xref_table_with_comments_before_trailerpasses