CVE-2026-109278 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 wavelet-denoise operation, which fails to release allocated memory when a required resource cannot be acquired. Attackers can repeatedly trigger wavelet-denoise processing under resource-constrained conditions to leak memory and degrade service availability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/12/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-3196 affects ImageMagick, a widely used open-source software suite for creating, editing, composing, or converting bitmap images. Specifically, the flaw resides within the wavelet-denoise operation, which is part of the image processing pipeline designed to reduce noise in digital imagery using wavelet transform techniques. In versions prior to 6.9.13-57 and 7.x prior to 7.1.2-32, this component exhibits a critical resource management error where it fails to properly release allocated memory when an attempt to acquire a required internal resource encounters failure or timeout conditions. This defect represents a classic instance of improper resource cleanup during exception handling paths, leading to progressive memory exhaustion over time rather than immediate application crashes.
From a technical perspective, the wavelet-denoise function allocates temporary buffers and data structures necessary for performing multi-resolution analysis on image pixels. When the operation encounters an environment where resources such as available RAM or specific internal locks cannot be acquired due to contention or system constraints, the error handling routine does not invoke the corresponding deallocation functions for previously allocated memory blocks. Consequently, each failed attempt leaves behind orphaned memory segments that remain occupied but inaccessible by other parts of the application. This behavior transforms a transient processing failure into a persistent state degradation, as the process accumulates leaked memory with every subsequent invocation of the affected operation under similar constrained conditions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is primarily centered on service availability and system stability through resource exhaustion. An attacker who can submit crafted image inputs that trigger the wavelet-denoise routine in an environment where resources are already tight or easily saturated can induce a denial-of-service condition. By repeatedly triggering these processing requests, the attacker causes the ImageMagick process to consume increasing amounts of memory until it either exceeds its allocated limits and is terminated by the operating system's out-of-memory killer, or degrades performance so severely that legitimate image processing tasks are starved of resources. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in high-throughput environments such as web applications, content management systems, or automated document conversion services where ImageMagick processes large volumes of user-uploaded images without strict resource isolation controls.
This flaw aligns with CWE-401, which describes a missing release of memory after effective usage, and falls under the broader category of improper resource cleanup during exception handling. In terms of adversarial tactics, this vulnerability supports techniques associated with ATT&CK ID T1498, specifically Network Denial of Service via Resource Exhaustion by Inducing Memory Leaks or CPU Consumption. The attack vector typically involves remote interaction if ImageMagick is exposed through a web service API that accepts image files for processing without adequate sandboxing or resource quotas.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate upgrading to the patched versions, specifically ImageMagick 6.9.13-57 or later and version 7.x 7.1.2-32 or later, where the developers have implemented proper cleanup routines in the error paths of the wavelet-denoise operation. For environments that cannot immediately upgrade due to dependency constraints, defensive measures include implementing strict resource limits using operating system tools such as cgroups on Linux systems to cap memory usage per process. Additionally, deploying a reverse proxy or web application firewall with rate limiting can help mitigate the frequency of requests sent to the vulnerable component. Input validation should also be enforced to ensure that only expected image formats and sizes are processed by ImageMagick instances exposed to untrusted networks, thereby reducing the attack surface for resource exhaustion attempts.