Executive brief
ImageMagick, a widely used software suite for displaying and converting images, is vulnerable to a denial-of-service attack. By providing a specially crafted image file, an attacker can force the software to consume more system memory than its security policy allows. This can lead to application crashes or system instability, potentially disrupting services that rely on ImageMagick for automated image processing.
Technical details
ImageMagick versions prior to 7.1.2-26 and 6.9.13-51 fail to validate memory allocation limits during matrix-backed operations, such as the '-canny' edge detection filter. This vulnerability is classified as CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling). An attacker can exploit this by supplying a crafted image that triggers excessive memory allocation, bypassing configured security policies. The attack requires local access and user interaction (e.g., a user or service opening the malicious image). Successful exploitation results in a denial of service (DoS) due to resource exhaustion. The issue is resolved in versions 7.1.2-26 and 6.9.13-51.
Affected products
- ImageMagick ImageMagick before 7.1.2-26
- ImageMagick ImageMagick before 6.9.13-51
Timeline
- 2026-06-26: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published by maintainers
- 2026-07-11: disclosed: CVE published to NVD dataset
- 2026-07-11: patched: Fixes confirmed in versions 7.1.2-26 and 6.9.13-51