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ImagemagickApplication

CVE-2009-1882

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-06-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Integer overflow in the XMakeImage function in magick/xwindow.c in ImageMagick 6.5.2-8, and GraphicsMagick, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted TIFF file, which triggers a buffer overflow. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.

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 · moderate confidence

Integer overflow in the XMakeImage function in magick/xwindow.c in ImageMagick 6.5.2-8 and GraphicsMagick allows remote attackers to cause a buffer overflow via a crafted TIFF file, potentially leading to denial of service and arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate ImageMagick and GraphicsMagick to versions beyond 6.5.2-8 that contain the fix; if immediate patching is not possible, disable processing of untrusted TIFF files or run ImageMagick in a sandboxed environment.

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
ImagemagickApplication
Affected:= 6.5.2-8

CVSS 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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check ImageMagick version
    Run `identify -version` or `convert -version` to see the installed version number
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 6.5.2-8
  2. Verify XWindow support is compiled
    Run `identify -list configure | grep -i x11` or check if the X Window rasterizer is present in the ImageMagick build
    Affected if X11/XWindow support is enabled in the ImageMagick build (the vulnerable XMakeImage function requires X11 libraries)
  3. Confirm TIFF format support is enabled
    Run `identify -list format | grep -i tiff` to see if TIFF read/write is supported
    Affected if TIFF support is enabled - the vulnerability is triggered by specially crafted TIFF files
  4. Check for the vulnerable code path in xwindow.c
    Inspect the magick/xwindow.c source file if available, or check the ImageMagick version history for the XMakeImage function patch status
    Affected if The installed version contains the unpatched XMakeImage function in magick/xwindow.c (version 6.5.2-8)

A user is affected if they have ImageMagick version 6.5.2-8 with both X11/XWindow support and TIFF support enabled, as the integer overflow in XMakeImage can be triggered by a specially crafted TIFF file.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update ImageMagick and GraphicsMagick to versions beyond 6.5.2-8 that contain the fix; if immediate patching is not possible, disable processing of untrusted TIFF files or run ImageMagick in a sandboxed environment.

Recommended fix High confidence

Any current stable ImageMagick release (6.x or 7.x series)

  1. 1. Identify the current ImageMagick version installed using 'convert -version' or 'identify -version'
  2. 2. Download the latest stable ImageMagick release from the official website (imagemagick.org) or use your system's package manager
  3. 3. For Linux systems, update via package manager: 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install imagemagick' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'sudo yum update ImageMagick' (RHEL/CentOS)
  4. 4. Verify the new version is installed and the vulnerability is addressed
  5. 5. If using ImageMagick in a production environment, test image processing workflows to ensure compatibility with the new version
Caveat Modern ImageMagick versions may have API/behavior changes from 6.5.2-8; test critical image processing workflows before full deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Imagemagick Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
48.0 hours of engineering $8,320
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-1882 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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