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ImagemagickApplication

CVE-2014-9836

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-03-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
ImageMagick 6.8.9-9 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted xpm file.

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

ImageMagick versions 6.8.9-9 contain a denial of service vulnerability in XPM (X Pixel Map) file parsing. Remote attackers can trigger the vulnerability by providing a specially crafted XPM file, causing the application to crash or become unresponsive.

MitigationUpdate ImageMagick to a version beyond 6.8.9-9 that includes the security patch. Additionally, implement file type validation to restrict processing of untrusted XPM files and consider sandboxing image processing operations.

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:= 6.8.9-9

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 'convert -version' or 'identify -version' to display the installed ImageMagick version number
    Affected if The version shown is exactly 6.8.9-9 (ImageMagick 6.8.9-9)
  2. Verify XPM delegate support
    Run 'convert -list configure' and look for XPM in the DELEGATES or DELEGATE_LIST output, or check for 'xpm' in the delegate configuration file typically located at /etc/ImageMagick/delegates.xml
    Affected if XPM support is listed as an available delegate
  3. Confirm XPM file handling is possible
    Run 'identify -list format' and check if XPM is listed as a supported format with Read or Write capability
    Affected if XPM appears in the supported format list with R (Read) permission enabled

The environment is affected if ImageMagick version 6.8.9-9 is installed AND XPM file format support is enabled, allowing processing of XPM files.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update ImageMagick to a version beyond 6.8.9-9 that includes the security patch. Additionally, implement file type validation to restrict processing of untrusted XPM files and consider sandboxing image processing operations.

Fix this in Imagemagick Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2014-9836 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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