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How CVE-2026-53464 Works
ImageMagick is a widely-used open-source software suite for editing, converting, and manipulating digital images. Prior to version 7.1.2-25, a memory leak vulnerability existed in the wand option parser component. The issue resides in how the parser handles invalid or malformed command-line options.
When a user or an automated process supplies an unrecognized or improperly formatted argument to the wand option parser, the code path triggers a macro named CLIWandExceptArgBreak. This macro calls `GetExceptionMessage(errno)` to retrieve an error message describing the invalid input. The returned string, which contains the error details, is then passed into another macro called CLIWandExceptionArg.
The vulnerability stems from the fact that this error message string is never properly freed after it is used. The `DestroyString` function, which is responsible for releasing the memory allocated for the string, is not called on this specific error message path. As a result, each time an invalid option triggers this code path, a small block of memory remains allocated and is not returned to the system.
While the memory leak per occurrence is small, an attacker can exploit this by repeatedly sending invalid options to the parser. Over time, the accumulated unreleased memory can lead to increased memory consumption, potentially causing performance degradation or a denial-of-service (DoS) condition on the affected system. The attack can be initiated remotely without requiring authentication, though it does require some form of user interaction, such as tricking a user into processing a crafted command or script.
The issue has been addressed in version 7.1.2-25 by modifying the `CLIWandExceptionArg` macro to properly manage the lifecycle of the error message. The fix ensures that the message string is stored in a variable and that `DestroyString(message)` is called after the message has been used, thereby releasing the allocated memory.
DailyCVE Form:
Platform: ImageMagick
Version: < 7.1.2-25
Vulnerability: Memory Leak
Severity: Moderate (CVSS 4.0)
date: 2026-06-10
Prediction: 2026-06-25
What Undercode Say:
- CVSS Score: 4.0 (Medium) – Low availability impact, local attack vector.
- CWE: CWE-401 – Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime.
- Exploit Price: $0-$5k (indicating low monetary incentive).
- CTI Interest Score: 0.79 (low attacker interest).
- Affected Packages: All Magick.NET NuGet packages before version 14.14.0.
- Patch Availability: Upgrading to ImageMagick 7.1.2-25 or Magick.NET 14.14.0 fixes the issue.
Exploit:
Example: Repeatedly passing invalid options to cause memory accumulation
for i in {1..10000}; do
identify -invalid-option-xyz input.jpg
done
Using Magick.NET (C) to trigger the leak
MagickImage image = new MagickImage("input.jpg");
image.Settings.SetDefine(MagickFormat.Jpeg, "invalid:option", "value");
A remote attacker can send a series of malformed commands to an ImageMagick-based service (e.g., an image processing API) to gradually exhaust available memory, leading to a denial-of-service condition. No public exploit is currently available.
Protection:
- Upgrade to ImageMagick version 7.1.2-25 or later.
- For .NET applications using Magick.NET, upgrade to version 14.14.0 or higher.
- If immediate upgrading is not possible, consider input validation to reject unrecognized options before they reach the parser.
- Monitor memory usage of ImageMagick processes and restart them periodically as a temporary workaround.
Impact:
- Availability: Low impact – repeated exploitation can cause gradual memory exhaustion, potentially leading to service slowdown or crash.
- Confidentiality: None – this vulnerability does not expose any data.
- Integrity: None – no data modification is possible.
- Attack Vector: Local (requires the attacker to have the ability to pass arguments to the wand parser, though this can be done remotely if the parser is exposed via an API or script).
- User Interaction: Not required for exploitation once the invalid input is supplied.
- Privileges Required: None.
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Sources:
Reported By: github.com
Extra Source Hub:
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