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ImagemagickApplication

CVE-2026-25971

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
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
ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Prior to versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, Magick fails to check for circular references between two MSLs, leading to a stack overflow. Versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 contain a patch.

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 contains a stack overflow vulnerability in its MSL (Magick Scripting Language) parser. The issue stems from a failure to check for circular references between two MSL elements, leading to unbounded recursion and stack exhaustion when processing specially crafted MSL scripts.

MitigationUpgrade ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-15 or later for the 7.x branch, or 6.9.13-40 or later for the 6.x branch. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable or restrict MSL script processing in ImageMagick configurations.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Identify ImageMagick installation and version
    Run `convert --version` (for 6.x) or `magick --version` (for 7.x) to determine the installed version of ImageMagick.
    Affected if The version falls below 6.9.13-40 for the 6.x branch, or below 7.1.2-15 for the 7.x branch.
  2. Verify MSL script processing capability exists
    Check if the MSL coder is available by running `convert -list configure | grep -i msl` or inspecting if MSL-related coders are present in the ImageMagick installation.
    Affected if MSL support is compiled into ImageMagick and available for processing .msl script files.
  3. Confirm MSL parser is accessible
    Attempt to invoke MSL processing by checking `convert -list coder | grep -i msl` or examining whether the MSL coder module exists in the coders directory.
    Affected if The MSL coder is loaded and capable of parsing MSL scripts, making the circular reference vulnerability reachable.

You are affected if ImageMagick is installed with a version below 6.9.13-40 or below 7.1.2-15 AND MSL script processing capability is enabled and accessible in your environment.

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 ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-15 or later for the 7.x branch, or 6.9.13-40 or later for the 6.x branch. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable or restrict MSL script processing in ImageMagick configurations.

Recommended fix High confidence

ImageMagick 7.1.2-15 or later for the 7.x branch, or 6.9.13-40 or later for the 6.x branch

  1. Identify the current ImageMagick version installed using 'convert -version' or 'magick -version'
  2. Determine the operating system and package manager used (e.g., apt, yum, brew, source compile)
  3. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: Run 'sudo apt update' then 'sudo apt install imagemagick' to get the latest available version
  4. For RHEL/CentOS systems: Run 'sudo yum update ImageMagick' or 'sudo dnf update ImageMagick'
  5. For macOS with Homebrew: Run 'brew upgrade imagemagick'
  6. For source compilation: Download and compile ImageMagick version 7.1.2-15 or later, or 6.9.13-40 or later from the official ImageMagick distribution sites
  7. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version with 'convert -version'
Caveat Test existing ImageMagick scripts and workflows after upgrade as minor behavior changes may occur between versions

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

Fix this in Imagemagick Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2026-25971 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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