CVE-2026-109262 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE • 10/12/2026
ImageMagick before 6.9.13-57 and 7.x before 7.1.2-32 contains a memory leak in the SVG encoder (WriteSVGImage) that fails to release allocated memory when handling crafted images. Attackers can supply crafted image files that are processed by the SVG encoder to leak memory and cause a denial of service through resource consumption.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/12/2026
The vulnerability identified involves ImageMagick, a widely used open-source software suite for creating, editing, composing, and converting bitmap images. Specifically, this issue affects versions prior to 6.9.13-57 in the legacy branch and version 7.x prior to 7.1.2-32 in the current major release line. The core of the flaw resides within the SVG encoder component, specifically inside the WriteSVGImage function which is responsible for converting internal image representations into Scalable Vector Graphics format output. This function contains a memory management defect where allocated heap memory is not properly released under certain conditions when processing specially crafted input files.
From a technical perspective, this constitutes an improper resource cleanup vulnerability that leads to progressive memory exhaustion over time or with repeated operations. When the SVG encoder processes specific malformed or complex vector graphics definitions embedded within image files, it allocates buffers and data structures but fails to invoke the corresponding deallocation routines upon completion of the encoding process or during error handling paths. This results in a classic memory leak scenario where each processed file consumes additional system resources that are never returned to the operating system's free pool. The flaw is particularly dangerous because SVG files can be highly complex, containing nested elements and intricate path definitions that trigger deeper code execution paths within the encoder logic, thereby increasing the likelihood of hitting the unhandled allocation scenarios.
The operational impact of this vulnerability centers on denial of service through resource consumption. Since ImageMagick is frequently deployed in server-side environments to process user-uploaded images for web applications, content management systems, and automated pipelines, an attacker can exploit this flaw by submitting a sequence of crafted SVG-containing image files. Each submission causes the target system's memory usage to incrementally rise without bound. Eventually, the application or service hosting ImageMagick will exhaust available physical RAM and swap space, leading to process termination, server crashes, or significant performance degradation that renders legitimate services unavailable. This type of attack does not require code execution privileges on the host but relies solely on the ability to submit input data for processing by the vulnerable library instance.
In terms of industry standard classifications, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-401, which describes a missing release of memory after effective usage. It also relates closely to CWE-772, referring to Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime, as the allocated resources are not freed when they should be. From an offensive security perspective, such vulnerabilities often facilitate Denial-of-Service attacks categorized under MITRE ATT&CK technique T1499, specifically Endpoint Denial of Service via resource exhaustion. The attack vector is typically classified as Network or Local depending on deployment context, but generally falls under Input Validation failures where the software does not adequately sanitize or manage resources associated with untrusted input data structures.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve upgrading to patched versions of ImageMagick that address this specific memory leak within the SVG encoder logic. For organizations unable to immediately upgrade their core libraries due to dependency constraints, implementing strict rate limiting on image processing endpoints can help mitigate the impact by preventing rapid successive allocations from exhausting system resources before they are eventually reclaimed during garbage collection cycles or process restarts. Additionally, deploying input validation filters that restrict the complexity of SVG content allowed for encoding may reduce the attack surface, although this is less effective than applying the vendor-supplied patch which resolves the root cause in the memory management code paths. Regular monitoring of system memory usage trends can also serve as an early warning indicator for potential exploitation attempts targeting this flaw.