CVE-2003-0555
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedImageMagick 5.4.3.x and earlier allows attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a "%x" filename, possibly triggering a format string vulnerability.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceImageMagick versions 5.4.3 and earlier contain a format string vulnerability when processing filenames containing '%x'. User-supplied input is used directly as a format string argument, allowing attackers to read arbitrary memory (causing crash/DoS) and potentially write to memory for code execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 5.4.3CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed ImageMagick versionRun 'convert -version' or check the package manager for imagemagick versionAffected if Version is 5.4.3 or earlier (versions up to and including 5.4.3 are affected)
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Identify ImageMagick usage with user-supplied filenamesReview any scripts, web applications, or automated processes that pass user-controlled filenames to ImageMagick commands (convert, identify, mogrify, composite, etc.)Affected if User-supplied filenames can be passed directly to ImageMagick without sanitization of special characters
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Search for files with percent characters in processed directoriesSearch directories where ImageMagick processes images for filenames containing '%x' (or other format string specifiers like %s, %d, %n)Affected if Filenames containing '%x' exist in directories that ImageMagick processes
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Monitor for crashes during filename processingRun ImageMagick on a test file with '%x' in the filename (e.g., 'convert test%x.jpg output.jpg') and observe for crashes or abnormal behaviorAffected if ImageMagick crashes or exhibits undefined behavior when processing a filename containing '%x'
You are affected if ImageMagick version is 5.4.3 or earlier AND user-supplied filenames containing '%x' can reach ImageMagick without sanitization.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade ImageMagick to a version beyond 5.4.3, or apply the vendor patch that properly sanitizes filename input before using it in format string functions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-0555 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2003-0555 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data