CVE-2016-10068 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE
The MSL interpreter in ImageMagick before 6.9.6-4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault and application crash) via a crafted XML file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-10068 represents a critical denial of service flaw within ImageMagick's MSL (Magick Scripting Language) interpreter component. This issue affects versions prior to 6.9.6-4 and enables remote attackers to trigger system instability through the deliberate crafting of XML files that exploit memory handling deficiencies in the software's processing pipeline. The MSL interpreter serves as a scripting engine within ImageMagick that processes various markup languages including XML, making it a potential attack vector for malicious actors seeking to disrupt service availability. The vulnerability manifests when the interpreter encounters malformed XML content that causes memory corruption during parsing operations, ultimately leading to segmentation faults and complete application crashes.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management within the MSL interpreter module. When processing crafted XML files, the interpreter fails to properly handle malformed data structures that result in improper memory access patterns and buffer overflows. This weakness allows attackers to manipulate the execution flow of the application by supplying carefully constructed XML content that triggers memory corruption conditions. The flaw specifically affects how the interpreter manages memory allocation and deallocation during XML parsing operations, creating opportunities for attackers to cause the application to crash or become unresponsive. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-125 vulnerability category, which encompasses out-of-bounds read conditions, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates a classic memory safety issue where insufficient bounds checking allows malicious inputs to corrupt program execution state.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-10068 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise broader system availability and integrity within environments that rely on ImageMagick for image processing tasks. Organizations utilizing ImageMagick in web applications, content management systems, or automated processing pipelines face significant risk from this vulnerability, as attackers can exploit it to repeatedly crash services and render systems unavailable to legitimate users. The remote nature of the attack means that threat actors can target vulnerable systems without requiring local access or authentication, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous in publicly accessible environments. When exploited, the vulnerability can cause cascading failures in applications that depend on ImageMagick, potentially leading to extended downtime and service degradation across multiple dependent systems. The vulnerability's impact is amplified in cloud environments and web applications where ImageMagick is commonly used for image manipulation and processing, as these systems often process user-uploaded content that could contain malicious XML payloads.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-10068 focus primarily on upgrading to patched versions of ImageMagick, specifically version 6.9.6-4 or later, which contain proper input validation and memory management fixes. Organizations should implement immediate patch management procedures to update all affected systems and verify that the updated versions properly address the memory handling issues within the MSL interpreter. Additional defensive measures include implementing strict input validation for XML content processed by ImageMagick, deploying web application firewalls to filter suspicious XML payloads, and establishing monitoring procedures to detect unusual application crash patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of vulnerable systems to untrusted networks, while regular security assessments should verify that no other components within the application stack remain vulnerable to similar memory corruption issues. The vulnerability highlights the importance of secure coding practices and proper memory management in multimedia processing libraries, particularly when handling untrusted input data through scripting interfaces that provide powerful but potentially dangerous execution capabilities.