CVE-2026-109280 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE • 10/12/2026
ImageMagick 7.1.0-20 before 7.1.2-32 contains a use after free vulnerability in the -fx option that occurs when a memory allocation fails during a specific operation. Attackers who can supply crafted -fx expressions under memory pressure can trigger freed memory access, causing crashes or memory corruption.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/12/2026
The identified vulnerability resides within ImageMagick versions 7.1.0-20 through 7.1.2-31 and specifically targets the processing logic associated with the -fx option. This component is responsible for evaluating complex mathematical expressions applied to image pixels, a feature that allows users to perform sophisticated pixel-level manipulations using a custom expression language. The core technical flaw is classified as a use-after-free error, which occurs when the software attempts to access memory that has already been released by the system allocator. In this specific scenario, the vulnerability is triggered during operations where memory allocation fails under conditions of high memory pressure or resource exhaustion. When such an allocation failure occurs within the -fx evaluation engine, the internal state management does not correctly handle the error condition, leading to a situation where pointers referencing previously freed memory blocks remain valid in the application logic but point to deallocated regions.
From a technical perspective, this flaw represents a classic race between resource availability and pointer validity maintenance. When an attacker supplies crafted -fx expressions that induce significant computational load or specific allocation patterns, they can force the system into a state where memory allocations fail intermittently. Instead of gracefully aborting the operation and nullifying relevant pointers, ImageMagick proceeds to dereference these stale pointers. This results in undefined behavior, which typically manifests as application crashes due to segmentation faults when accessing invalid addresses. However, under certain conditions involving heap layout manipulation or specific allocation sizes, this memory corruption can be exploited further. An attacker with the ability to control the content of the freed memory region could potentially achieve arbitrary code execution by overwriting function pointers or object vtables, although exploitation would likely require precise environmental control and knowledge of the target system's memory layout.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for any environment that processes untrusted image data using ImageMagick with the -fx option enabled. Since ImageMagick is widely used in web applications, document processing pipelines, and automated media conversion services, an attacker could trigger remote code execution or denial-of-service conditions by uploading a specially crafted file containing malicious -fx expressions. The requirement for memory pressure suggests that exploitation might be more feasible against systems with limited resources or under sustained load, but it does not preclude successful attacks on well-resourced servers if the allocation failure can be reliably induced through repeated requests or specific expression complexity. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-416, Use After Free, which describes errors where a program uses memory after it has been freed, leading to crashes, corruption, or code execution. Additionally, in terms of attack vectors and techniques, this falls under MITRE ATT&CK Tactic TA0002 Execution and specifically relates to technique T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter if the expression language is leveraged for indirect command injection, though primarily it serves as a vector for memory corruption leading to execution.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-32 or later, where this allocation failure handling has been corrected to ensure pointers are properly invalidated upon error conditions. For environments unable to update immediately, administrators should disable the -fx option if it is not strictly required for their workflow, as this removes the attack surface entirely. Input validation and sanitization of image metadata can also reduce risk by preventing malicious expressions from reaching the vulnerable code path. Furthermore, deploying runtime application self-protection tools or memory safety wrappers such as AddressSanitizer in development environments can help detect similar issues before they reach production. Organizations should also monitor for unusual spikes in memory usage associated with image processing services, which may indicate attempted exploitation of this resource exhaustion condition.