CVE-2012-1185 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple integer overflows in (1) magick/profile.c or (2) magick/property.c in ImageMagick 6.7.5 and earlier allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) and possibly execute arbitrary code via crafted offset value in the ResolutionUnit tag in the EXIF IFD0 of an image. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2012-0247.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/03/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-1185 represents a critical security flaw in ImageMagick version 6.7.5 and earlier, where multiple integer overflows occur in the magick/profile.c and magick/property.c source files. This vulnerability specifically targets the handling of crafted offset values within the ResolutionUnit tag of the EXIF IFD0 structure embedded in image files. The flaw stems from an incomplete remediation of a previously addressed vulnerability CVE-2012-0247, creating a persistent security gap that attackers can exploit to compromise system integrity. The integer overflow conditions arise when the software processes malformed EXIF metadata, particularly in the ResolutionUnit field, where maliciously constructed values can cause arithmetic operations to wrap around and produce unexpectedly large memory allocation requests.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when ImageMagick attempts to parse and process image files containing specially crafted EXIF metadata. When the software encounters a malformed ResolutionUnit value in the EXIF IFD0 tag, the integer overflow causes memory allocation calculations to produce incorrect results, leading to memory corruption during the processing of image profiles or properties. This memory corruption can manifest as heap corruption, stack corruption, or other forms of memory instability that ultimately result in application crashes or, in more severe cases, arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that it can be triggered through the processing of image files from untrusted sources, making it particularly dangerous in web applications or services that handle user-uploaded images.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to systems that rely on ImageMagick for image processing tasks, particularly web applications, content management systems, and digital asset management platforms. Attackers can leverage this flaw by uploading maliciously crafted images that contain the specially constructed EXIF metadata, triggering the integer overflow during normal image processing operations. The denial of service aspect of this vulnerability can be exploited to repeatedly crash image processing services, while the potential for arbitrary code execution opens pathways for more sophisticated attacks including remote code execution on vulnerable systems. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple processing functions in ImageMagick's codebase increases the attack surface and makes comprehensive protection more challenging.
The security implications of CVE-2012-1185 align with CWE-190, which describes integer overflow conditions, and can be mapped to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and remote code execution through software exploitation. Organizations utilizing ImageMagick should prioritize immediate patching to address this vulnerability, as the incomplete fix for CVE-2012-0247 left residual weaknesses in the integer validation mechanisms. Mitigation strategies include implementing strict input validation for image metadata, deploying network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious image file processing activities, and maintaining up-to-date security patches for all image processing libraries. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing sandboxing mechanisms for image processing operations and employing automated image sanitization tools to prevent malicious metadata from reaching vulnerable applications. The vulnerability underscores the importance of comprehensive security testing and validation of security patches to ensure that previous fixes do not create new attack vectors.