Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-28686

Memory Safety in Imagemagick ≤ 6.9.13-41

Published
10 March 2026
Modified
12 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.8
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:L/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0011 2th percentile
Risk Priority 37 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-28686 is a medium-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Imagemagick Imagemagick. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 2th 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 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Prior to versions 7.1.2-16 and 6.9.13-41, A heap-buffer-overflow vulnerability exists in the PCL encode due to an undersized output buffer allocation. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.1.2-16…

more

and 6.9.13-41.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

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.
T1204.002 Malicious File Execution
An adversary may rely upon a user opening a malicious file in order to gain execution.
Why these techniques?

Heap buffer overflow in image processing library enables RCE via malicious PCL/image files against public apps or via user execution.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-30936Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-48994Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-25794Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-40310Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2025-66628Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-34238Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-46520Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-28687Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-55510Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick
CVE-2026-33899Same product: Imagemagick Imagemagick

Affected Assets

imagemagick
imagemagick
≤ 6.9.13-41 · 7.0.0-0 — 7.1.2-16

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
  • SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools
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

prevent

Directly requires applying the vendor-supplied patches (7.1.2-16 / 6.9.13-41) that correct the undersized buffer allocation in PCL encoding.

prevent

Mandates developer security testing (fuzzing, bounds checking) that would have detected the heap-buffer-overflow caused by incorrect buffer-size calculation.

prevent

Requires use of secure development standards and tools that enforce proper buffer-size computation and prevent CWE-122/CWE-131 defects.

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.

degrades

Secure coding standards directly require correct buffer-size calculations.

detects

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

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.

none

Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.

References