Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-26283

DoS in Imagemagick ≤ 6.9.13-40

Published
24 February 2026
Modified
24 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0033 25th percentile
Risk Priority 47 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-26283 is a medium-severity Infinite Loop (CWE-835) vulnerability in Imagemagick Imagemagick. Its CVSS base score is 6.2 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 25th 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-2 (Flaw Remediation) — 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-2026-26283 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in ImageMagick, a free and open-source software suite for editing and manipulating digital images. The issue stems from a `continue` statement in the JPEG extent binary search loop within the JPEG encoder, which triggers an infinite loop when image writing persistently fails. This affects ImageMagick versions prior to 7.1.2-15 (for the 7.x series) and 6.9.13-40 (for the 6.x series), earning a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.2 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and mapping to CWE-835 (Infinite Loop).

A local attacker with no privileges required can exploit this vulnerability by supplying a specially crafted image to an affected ImageMagick instance. The low attack complexity and lack of user interaction mean that processing the malicious image leads to 100% CPU consumption and a process hang, resulting in a denial of service on the targeted system or application.

The ImageMagick GitHub security advisory (GHSA-gwr3-x37h-h84v) confirms that versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 include patches to address the infinite loop. Security practitioners should update to these fixed versions and validate image inputs in applications using ImageMagick for processing, especially in local or automated workflows.

EU & UK References

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, a `continue` statement in the JPEG extent binary search loop in the jpeg encoder causes an infinite loop when writing persistently…

more

fails. An attacker can trigger a 100% CPU consumption and process hang (Denial of Service) with a crafted image. Versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 contain a patch.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
T1499.003 Application Exhaustion Flood Impact
Adversaries may target resource intensive features of applications to cause a denial of service (DoS), denying availability to those applications.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-23874Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2025-53015Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-26066Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-46522Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-56366Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-61863Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-61870Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-25638Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-25796Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-33908Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick

Affected Assets

imagemagick
imagemagick
≤ 6.9.13-40 · 7.0.0-0 — 7.1.2-15

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover unreachable loop exit conditions through static analysis, fuzzing, or execution tracing.

Flaw remediation processes identify and correct infinite-loop defects reported from testing or operations.

Requiring documented development processes and secure coding standards reduces introduction of loops whose termination conditions are unreachable.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (reviews, testing, static analysis) directly prevent introduction of infinite-loop defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Static analysis and vuln scanning during asset assessment can detect unreachable loop exits.

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.

finds

Security testing can uncover infinite-loop conditions before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that can detect and prevent infinite-loop defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify loop-termination rules, indirectly reducing the weakness.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly address loop termination and prevent infinite loops.

none

Secure architecture principles encourage designs that avoid unreachable exit conditions.

none

Change management can require review of loop logic when code is modified.

References