CVE-2016-10049 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in the ReadRLEImage function in coders/rle.c in ImageMagick before 6.9.4-4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or other unspecified impact via a crafted RLE file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/14/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-10049 represents a critical buffer overflow condition within ImageMagick's RLE image processing functionality. This flaw exists in the ReadRLEImage function located in the coders/rle.c source file and affects all versions prior to 6.9.4-4. The buffer overflow occurs when processing specially crafted RLE (Run-Length Encoded) image files, which can be exploited by remote attackers to manipulate memory allocation and execution flow. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and bounds checking during the parsing of RLE compressed image data structures, creating opportunities for malicious code injection or system instability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the improper handling of variable-length data within the RLE decompression algorithm. When ImageMagick encounters an RLE file with malformed or excessively large data segments, the ReadRLEImage function fails to properly validate the size parameters before allocating memory buffers. This allows attackers to craft RLE files containing oversized data sequences that exceed the allocated buffer boundaries, leading to memory corruption. The flaw aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. The vulnerability can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1203, specifically targeting application vulnerabilities through malicious file formats.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-10049 extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to encompass potential system compromise and unauthorized access. Remote attackers can leverage this vulnerability to crash applications that utilize ImageMagick for image processing, effectively causing denial of service across web applications, content management systems, and digital asset management platforms that depend on ImageMagick. Additionally, the memory corruption aspects of this vulnerability could potentially enable more sophisticated attacks if the application is running with elevated privileges or if the buffer overflow leads to information disclosure. The vulnerability affects numerous applications and services that process user-uploaded images, including web servers, email clients, and image processing pipelines, making it particularly dangerous in multi-tenant environments.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-10049 primarily focus on immediate version updates and input validation controls. Organizations should prioritize upgrading to ImageMagick version 6.9.4-4 or later, which includes patched implementations of the ReadRLEImage function with proper bounds checking. System administrators should implement strict file format validation and sanitization measures, particularly for user-uploaded content, to prevent exploitation attempts. Network-level protections such as content filtering and sandboxing mechanisms can provide additional defense-in-depth layers. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of input validation in multimedia processing libraries and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of image format parsers. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be implemented to identify similar issues in other image processing components and third-party libraries that may be susceptible to analogous buffer overflow conditions.