CVE-2017-12563 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE
In ImageMagick 7.0.6-2, a memory exhaustion vulnerability was found in the function ReadPSDImage in coders/psd.c, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/14/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-12563 represents a critical memory exhaustion issue within ImageMagick version 7.0.6-2, specifically within the ReadPSDImage function located in the coders/psd.c file. This flaw manifests as a denial of service condition that can be exploited by malicious actors to consume excessive system resources. The vulnerability arises from inadequate memory management during the processing of Photoshop Document files, which are commonly used image formats in professional graphic design workflows. When an attacker crafts a specially malformed PSD file and feeds it to ImageMagick's image processing pipeline, the software fails to properly validate memory allocation requests, leading to uncontrolled memory consumption that can eventually crash the application or render the system unresponsive.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes memory allocation and deallocation issues as a primary concern in software security. The flaw operates through a classic buffer overconsumption pattern where the ReadPSDImage function does not adequately check the size parameters of incoming image data before attempting to allocate memory blocks. This allows attackers to manipulate the parsing process by providing PSD files with inflated dimension values or nested structures that cause the memory allocator to reserve excessive amounts of RAM. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because PSD files are widely used in creative industries, making them common targets for exploitation in scenarios involving automated image processing systems or web applications that accept user-uploaded content.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations that rely on ImageMagick for image processing tasks, particularly those running web services, content management systems, or automated workflows that process user-generated content. Attackers can exploit this weakness by uploading malicious PSD files to systems that utilize ImageMagick for automatic image conversion or thumbnail generation, potentially causing service disruption across multiple concurrent users. The impact extends beyond simple denial of service as it can lead to complete system crashes, resource exhaustion that affects other critical applications, and potential exploitation for more advanced attack vectors if combined with other vulnerabilities in the processing pipeline. Systems using ImageMagick in high-throughput environments such as media servers, e-commerce platforms, or social media applications face the highest risk of exploitation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-12563 should focus on immediate patching of affected ImageMagick versions to the latest stable releases that contain memory allocation safeguards and input validation improvements. Organizations should implement strict file type validation and content scanning before processing any image uploads to prevent exploitation attempts. Network-level controls including rate limiting and file size restrictions can help reduce the impact of potential attacks. Additionally, implementing sandboxed execution environments for image processing tasks and monitoring system resource consumption can provide early detection of exploitation attempts. The remediation process should also include comprehensive testing of the patched software to ensure that legitimate image processing functionality remains intact while addressing the memory exhaustion vulnerability. Security teams should consider implementing automated monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous memory usage patterns indicative of exploitation attempts, and maintain updated threat intelligence feeds to stay informed about emerging exploitation techniques targeting similar vulnerabilities in image processing libraries.