CVE-2026-116156 in ImageMagick
Summary
by MITRE • 10/25/2026
ImageMagick before 6.9.13-58 and 7.x before 7.1.2-33 contains a memory leak caused by a missing cleanup when the -set profile option is used. An attacker who induces a user to process images with the -set profile option can leak memory, potentially exhausting resources and causing a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/25/2026
The vulnerability identified in ImageMagick versions prior to 6.9.13-58 and 7.x before 7.1.2-33 represents a critical resource management flaw rooted in improper handling of memory allocation during image profile manipulation. Specifically, the defect occurs when the -set profile command-line option is utilized by an end user or automated process to attach metadata profiles to images. Under normal operation, ImageMagick allocates temporary buffers and structures to manage these embedded data streams. However, due to a missing cleanup routine in the code path responsible for processing this specific option, allocated memory blocks are not properly released back to the operating system after their intended use is complete. This oversight results in a progressive accumulation of unreleased memory allocations within the application process space, creating what is technically classified as a resource leak rather than a traditional buffer overflow or injection vulnerability.
From an operational perspective, this flaw poses a significant risk for denial of service scenarios, particularly in environments where ImageMagick processes untrusted input on behalf of multiple users or handles high volumes of image conversions automatically. An attacker who can induce a victim to process maliciously crafted images using the -set profile option can trigger repeated memory allocations without corresponding deallocations. Over time, this leads to excessive consumption of system RAM and potentially swap space. As available resources dwindle, the host machine may experience severe performance degradation, application crashes, or complete unresponsiveness. In cloud-based or containerized environments where resource limits are enforced, such as Kubernetes pods with memory constraints, this vulnerability can cause immediate pod termination due to exceeding allocated memory quotas, thereby disrupting service availability for legitimate users and potentially causing cascading failures in dependent services that rely on the affected ImageMagick instance.
This issue aligns closely with CWE-401, which describes a missing release of memory after effective use, as well as CWE-772, referring to Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime. The attack vector typically involves an adversary providing specially constructed image files that trigger the vulnerable code path during conversion or analysis tasks. This behavior is consistent with ATT&CK technique T1496, which covers Resource Hijacking, specifically subcategory N: Denial of Service via resource exhaustion. While the vulnerability does not allow for arbitrary code execution or direct data exfiltration through memory disclosure in this specific context, its impact on system stability and availability makes it a high-severity concern for any infrastructure relying heavily on image processing pipelines.
Mitigation strategies primarily involve upgrading to patched versions of ImageMagick where 6.9.13-58 or later for the legacy branch and 7.1.2-33 or later for the v7 series are installed. These releases include corrections that ensure proper deallocation of memory buffers associated with profile operations, thereby eliminating the leak condition. For organizations unable to immediately patch their systems due to dependency constraints, temporary mitigations may include implementing strict resource limits at the operating system level using tools like cgroups or systemd service overrides to restrict maximum memory usage per process instance. Additionally, deploying web application firewalls or input validation layers that sanitize or reject image processing requests containing suspicious profile metadata can reduce exposure until a permanent fix is applied. Regular monitoring of memory consumption patterns for ImageMagick processes should also be implemented to detect anomalous growth indicative of active exploitation attempts.