CVE-2026-25898
Memory Safety in Imagemagick ≤ 6.9.13-40
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:LSummary
CVE-2026-25898 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) 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 28th 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 SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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-2026-25898 is a vulnerability in ImageMagick, a free and open-source software suite for editing and manipulating digital images. It affects versions prior to 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, specifically in the UIL and XPM image encoders. These encoders fail to validate the pixel index value returned by the `GetPixelIndex()` function before using it as an array subscript. In HDRI builds of ImageMagick, the `Quantum` type is a floating-point value, which allows pixel index values to be negative. Processing a specially crafted image can trigger a global buffer overflow read (CWE-125), potentially leading to information disclosure or a process crash. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L).
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no privileges or user interaction required, as long as a vulnerable ImageMagick instance processes a malicious UIL or XPM image file. Successful exploitation results in limited information disclosure from memory or low-impact denial of service via process crash, but does not allow integrity modification.
The ImageMagick GitHub security advisory (GHSA-vpxv-r9pg-7gpr) confirms that versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 include a patch to address the issue by adding validation for the pixel index value. Security practitioners should update to these fixed versions and avoid processing untrusted images with vulnerable builds, particularly in HDRI configurations.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-7439
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, the UIL and XPM image encoder do not validate the pixel index value returned by `GetPixelIndex()` before using it as an…
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array subscript. In HDRI builds, `Quantum` is a floating-point type, so pixel index values can be negative. An attacker can craft an image with negative pixel index values to trigger a global buffer overflow read during conversion, leading to information disclosure or a process crash. 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
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.
Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.
Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.
Input validation rejects malformed indices or lengths that would otherwise cause reads outside buffer bounds.
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 such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.
Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.
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 includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.