[BUG] Read tool fails on small PDFs (8 pages, <1 MB) with misleading "password-protected" error

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Pdf cannot be read by claude code says it is password protected. The PDF is NOT password-protected. It has no open-password, no permissions-password, and opens freely in Acrobat Reader. When I manually extract just the first 2 pages of the same PDF into a separate file, Claude Code reads it successfully. This rules out password-protection as the actual cause and confirms the failure is page-count or extraction-size related.

What Should Happen?

The PDF should be read successfully, since it is far under the documented 100-page / 32 MB limits. The same PDF reads successfully on other systems where I have Claude Code installed (different OS / different Claude Code version), and the same file opens fine in chat interface.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Place a standard 8-page Elsevier/ASME-typeset academic PDF in a directory accessible to Claude Code.
2. Ask Claude Code to read the file using the Read tool.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.138

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

The same PDF works on my Linux server install of Claude Code