Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-26284

Memory Safety in Imagemagick ≤ 6.9.13-40

Published
24 February 2026
Modified
24 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0040 33th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-26284 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 33th 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-2026-26284 is a vulnerability in ImageMagick, a free and open-source software suite for editing and manipulating digital images. Prior to versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, the software lacks proper boundary checking when processing Huffman-coded data in PCD (Photo CD) files. Specifically, a decoder function suffers from incorrect initialization, which can lead to an out-of-bounds read. This issue is classified under CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Over-read), CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), and CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read), with 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).

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely by unauthenticated attackers with network access, requiring low complexity and no user interaction. By supplying a specially crafted PCD file to an ImageMagick instance, such as in a web application or image processing pipeline, an attacker can trigger the out-of-bounds read. This may result in limited disclosure of sensitive information from memory or a denial of service via application crash, though integrity is unaffected.

The official GitHub security advisory (GHSA-wrhr-rf8j-r842) confirms that ImageMagick versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 address the issue with a patch fixing the decoder's initialization and boundary checks. Security practitioners should upgrade to these versions or later and consider disabling PCD file processing if not required, via ImageMagick's policy configuration.

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, ImageMagick lacks proper boundary checking when processing Huffman-coded data from PCD (Photo CD) files. The decoder contains an function that has…

more

an incorrect initialization that could cause an out of bounds read. Versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 contain a patch.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-46520Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2023-3745Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2023-2157Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-40310Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-53465Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-33901Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-40169Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2025-57807Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-23876Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-40183Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick

Affected Assets

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

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1

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.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.

Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.

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.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

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.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.

References