Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-25897 is a medium-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Imagemagick Imagemagick. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 23th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-25897 is an integer overflow vulnerability in the Sun decoder of ImageMagick, a free and open-source software suite for editing and manipulating digital images. The flaw affects versions prior to 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, specifically on 32-bit systems or builds, where processing a carefully crafted image triggers the overflow, resulting in an out-of-bounds heap write. It is rated with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H) and is associated with CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) and CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound). The vulnerability was published on 2026-02-24.
A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability by supplying a maliciously crafted image file to an ImageMagick instance using the Sun decoder on vulnerable 32-bit systems. Exploitation requires high attack complexity but no user interaction or privileges. Successful exploitation leads to a denial of service through high-impact availability disruption via heap corruption, with low confidentiality impact possible.
The ImageMagick GitHub security advisory (GHSA-6j5f-24fw-pqp4) confirms that versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 include patches to address the integer overflow. Security practitioners should upgrade affected ImageMagick installations, particularly those running 32-bit builds that process untrusted images, and consider disabling the Sun decoder if not required.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-7440
Vulnerability Data
ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Prior to versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, an Integer Overflow vulnerability exists in the sun decoder. On 32-bit systems/builds, a carefully crafted image can lead to an out…
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of bounds heap write. Versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 contain a patch.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and memory-error detectors) can discover heap overflows after they have been coded.
Input validation enforces bounds checking on data written to heap buffers, directly stopping the overflow condition from being introduced.
Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability of a heap overflow to execute attacker-controlled code or corrupt adjacent structures.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.
Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.
Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.
Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.
Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.
Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.