CVE-2026-106575 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE • 10/07/2026
ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Prior to 7.1.2-31, a crafted Magick script can cause an opened file pointer to remain unclosed, allowing repeated processing to exhaust available file descriptors. This issue is fixed in version 7.1.2-31.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/07/2026
ImageMagick serves as a foundational toolset for digital image manipulation across numerous software ecosystems, ranging from web applications to scientific data visualization platforms. The vulnerability identified within versions prior to 7.1.2-31 represents a resource management failure that stems directly from improper handling of file descriptors during the execution of crafted Magick scripts. This flaw is categorized under CWE-775, which describes Missing Release of File Descriptor or Handle after Effective Lifetime, indicating that the software fails to properly relinquish system resources once they are no longer needed by the processing routine.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves a logic error in how ImageMagick manages open file handles when processing specific script inputs. When an attacker provides a maliciously crafted Magick script, the application opens various files or streams as part of its parsing and rendering process but fails to invoke the necessary system calls to close these pointers upon completion or during intermediate steps. This oversight means that each invocation of the vulnerable code path consumes one or more file descriptors from the operating system's limited pool without returning them to the available resource stack.
The operational impact of this flaw is primarily centered on denial of service through resource exhaustion. File descriptors are a finite kernel-level resource, and their availability varies by operating system configuration but is typically constrained to prevent instability in multi-process environments. By repeatedly triggering the unclosed file pointer condition, an attacker can systematically deplete the available file descriptor count for the affected process or even the entire user session if permissions allow. Once this limit is reached, subsequent operations requiring new file handles will fail with errors such as Too many open files, effectively halting image processing capabilities and potentially causing application crashes or service unavailability depending on how gracefully the surrounding software architecture handles these system-level failures.
This vulnerability aligns closely with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1496, Resource Hijacking, specifically within the context of resource exhaustion attacks where adversaries leverage local resources to disrupt availability rather than compromising confidentiality or integrity directly. The attack vector is typically classified as CWE-20, Improper Input Validation, because the root cause lies in the application's failure to validate and correctly manage inputs that dictate file handling behaviors. While this issue does not inherently lead to remote code execution or data leakage, it poses a significant risk to service availability, particularly for ImageMagick instances deployed behind web servers where automated image processing is triggered by user-supplied content.
Mitigation strategies focus on immediate version upgrades and architectural safeguards. The primary remediation is to upgrade the ImageMagick installation to version 7.1.2-31 or later, which contains code corrections ensuring that file descriptors are properly closed after their intended use. For environments where an immediate patch cannot be applied, administrators should implement input validation layers at the application boundary to restrict access to complex script processing features from untrusted sources. Additionally, operating system-level controls such as ulimit settings can be tuned to reduce the maximum number of open files per process, thereby limiting the blast radius of a successful exhaustion attack and allowing for quicker detection via monitoring tools that track file descriptor usage trends over time.