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ImagemagickApplication

CVE-2026-25966

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.9.13-40 / 7.1.2-15 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. The shipped "secure" security policy includes a rule intended to prevent reading/writing from standard streams. However, ImageMagick also supports fd:<n> pseudo-filenames (e.g., fd:0, fd:1). Prior to versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, this path form is not blocked by the secure policy templates, and therefore bypasses the protection goal of "no stdin/stdout." Versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 contain a patch by including a change to the more secure policies by default. As a workaround, add the change to one's security policy manually.

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 confidence

ImageMagick's secure policy templates intended to block stdin/stdout access can be bypassed using fd:<n> pseudo-filenames (fd:0, fd:1), which were not blocked by the policy in versions prior to 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40. This allows attackers to read from stdin or write to stdout despite the security policy designed to prevent such access.

MitigationUpgrade to ImageMagick version 7.1.2-15 / 6.9.13-40 or later, or manually add rules to block fd: pseudo-filenames in the security policy XML configuration.

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:< 6.9.13-40>= 7.0.0-0, < 7.1.2-15

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Determine installed ImageMagick version
    Run 'convert -version' (for ImageMagick 7 use 'magick -version') and note the version number in the output
    Affected if The version shown is below 6.9.13-40 for the 6.x branch, or below 7.1.2-15 for the 7.x branch (including versions 7.0.0.0 through 7.1.2-14)
  2. Locate the security policy file
    Check for policy.xml in common locations: /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml, /etc/ImageMagick/policy.xml, or look in the directory returned by 'convert -list configure | grep POLICY_PATH'
    Affected if The policy file exists and is being used to restrict ImageMagick operations
  3. Verify fd: pseudo-filename blocking in policy
    Open the policy.xml file and search for entries containing 'fd:' or look for a rule with pattern 'fd:*' or 'fd:0' or 'fd:1' in the <pattern> element
    Affected if No <policy> entry with pattern containing 'fd:' is found, or the policy explicitly allows fd: access (no denial rule exists for fd: pseudo-filenames)
  4. Confirm stdin/stdout policy restrictions
    Look in the policy.xml for rules that restrict 'stdio' or 'stdin' or 'stdout' or 'file:/dev/stdin' or 'file:/dev/stdout', which are the intended protections that can be bypassed via fd:
    Affected if The policy contains restrictions on stdio access but does not include explicit denial rules for 'fd:' pseudo-filenames, leaving the bypass available

You are affected if your ImageMagick version is below 6.9.13-40 or below 7.1.2-15 AND your security policy does not explicitly block fd: pseudo-filenames, allowing potential stdin/stdout access bypass.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.9.13-40 / 7.1.2-15 or later
Fixed in 6.9.13-407.1.2-15
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to ImageMagick version 7.1.2-15 / 6.9.13-40 or later, or manually add rules to block fd: pseudo-filenames in the security policy XML configuration.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

ImageMagick 6.9.13-40 (6.x branch) or 7.1.2-15 (7.x branch)

  1. 1. Check the current ImageMagick version by running 'convert --version' or 'magick --version'
  2. 2. If using the 6.x branch (versions < 6.9.13-40), upgrade to version 6.9.13-40 or later
  3. 3. If using the 7.x branch (versions >= 7.0.0-0 and < 7.1.2-15), upgrade to version 7.1.2-15 or later
  4. 4. Verify the upgrade was successful by running 'convert --version' and confirming the installed version
  5. 5. Test that fd:0, fd:1 and similar pseudo-filenames are now blocked by the security policy
Caveat Minor: Custom security policies may need adjustment if they override the default secure policy. Users with custom policies should add rules to block fd:<n> patterns.

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

Fix this in Imagemagick Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2026-25966 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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