CVE-2019-13136 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE
ImageMagick before 7.0.8-50 has an integer overflow vulnerability in the function TIFFSeekCustomStream in coders/tiff.c.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/15/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-13136 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within ImageMagick's TIFF file handling mechanism, specifically affecting versions prior to 7.0.8-50. This issue resides in the TIFFSeekCustomStream function located within the coders/tiff.c source file, making it a core component of the image processing pipeline that handles TIFF format files. The vulnerability manifests when ImageMagick processes specially crafted TIFF files that contain malformed metadata or stream positioning values, creating conditions where integer arithmetic operations exceed their maximum representable values.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and boundary checking within the TIFF file parsing logic. When ImageMagick attempts to seek within a TIFF stream using the TIFFSeekCustomStream function, it performs integer calculations to determine file positions and buffer sizes. An attacker can manipulate the TIFF file structure to cause these calculations to overflow, resulting in incorrect memory access patterns and potentially enabling arbitrary code execution. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-190, which specifically addresses integer overflow conditions, and can be classified as a memory safety issue within the context of software security.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as it can potentially allow remote code execution when ImageMagick processes untrusted TIFF files. Attackers can craft malicious TIFF files that trigger the integer overflow during file parsing, leading to memory corruption that may be exploited to execute arbitrary code on systems running vulnerable versions of ImageMagick. This presents significant risk in environments where ImageMagick is used for automated image processing, web applications, or content management systems that accept user-uploaded images. The vulnerability's exploitation potential aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers exploitation for privilege escalation through memory corruption.
System administrators and security professionals should prioritize immediate patching of affected ImageMagick installations, as the vulnerability affects widely deployed image processing libraries used across various platforms and applications. The fix implemented in version 7.0.8-50 includes proper integer overflow checks and bounds validation within the TIFFSeekCustomStream function, preventing the arithmetic operations from exceeding their safe limits. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as input validation for file formats, sandboxing image processing operations, and network segmentation to limit the potential impact of exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of robust input validation in multimedia processing libraries and highlights the need for regular security updates in widely used open source components.