CVE-2017-12875 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE
The WritePixelCachePixels function in ImageMagick 7.0.6-6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/27/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-12875 resides within ImageMagick's WritePixelCachePixels function, specifically in version 7.0.6-6, presenting a significant denial of service risk that can be exploited remotely by attackers. This flaw manifests when the system processes a crafted file that triggers excessive CPU consumption during the pixel cache writing operation, effectively allowing adversaries to consume system resources and potentially render services unavailable to legitimate users.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and resource management within the pixel cache handling mechanism. When ImageMagick encounters a malformed file during the WritePixelCachePixels operation, the processing logic fails to properly constrain resource allocation or execution time, leading to unbounded CPU usage patterns that can persist for extended periods. This behavior represents a classic resource exhaustion attack vector that operates at the image processing layer where attackers can craft specific file formats that trigger the vulnerable code path without requiring authentication or elevated privileges.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses substantial risk to systems that rely on ImageMagick for image processing tasks, particularly web applications, content management systems, and any service that accepts user-uploaded images. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as attackers can maintain prolonged CPU consumption, potentially leading to system instability, increased operational costs due to resource exhaustion, and cascading failures in dependent services. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers can leverage it from anywhere on the network without physical access to the target system, making it particularly dangerous in cloud environments and multi-tenant systems.
The flaw aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes the vulnerability as a resource exhaustion issue, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with attack techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the resource exhaustion tactic. Organizations utilizing ImageMagick for image processing should prioritize immediate remediation through version updates to 7.0.6-7 or later, which contain the necessary patches to address the CPU consumption issue. Additional mitigations include implementing file validation mechanisms, restricting image upload capabilities, deploying rate limiting controls, and monitoring for unusual CPU usage patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to limit the potential impact of successful attacks against this vulnerability.