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ImagemagickApplication

CVE-2026-25988

HIGH · 7.5 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 →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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, sometimes msl.c fails to update the stack index, so an image is stored in the wrong slot and never freed on error, causing leaks. 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 · high confidence

ImageMagick contains a memory leak vulnerability in the MSL (Magick Scripting Language) parser. In msl.c, the stack index sometimes fails to update correctly, causing images to be stored in incorrect memory slots. When an error occurs, these images are never freed, leading to memory leaks that can accumulate with repeated processing of malformed script files.

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) to apply the patch that fixes the stack index handling in msl.c.

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 installed ImageMagick version
    Run `identify -version` or `convert -version` to obtain the installed version number
    Affected if The version is less than 6.9.13-40 (6.x branch) or greater than or equal to 7.0.0-0 but less than 7.1.2-15 (7.x branch)
  2. Verify MSL script processing capability
    Check if the MSL (Magick Scripting Language) coder is available by running `identify -list configure` and looking for MSL in the DELEGATES or CODEC section, or check for the presence of msl.c in the source
    Affected if MSL support is compiled into the ImageMagick installation
  3. Identify MSL script usage in the environment
    Search for .msl files on the system using `find / -name "*.msl" 2>/dev/null` and review any applications or scripts that invoke ImageMagick with MSL input
    Affected if The system processes or can process .msl script files, particularly from untrusted sources

The environment is affected if ImageMagick is running a vulnerable version AND MSL script processing is enabled and being used to process potentially malformed script 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.

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) to apply the patch that fixes the stack index handling in msl.c.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. 1. Identify the current ImageMagick version installed (e.g., `convert --version` or `magick --version`)
  2. 2. If running a 6.x version below 6.9.13-40, plan upgrade to version 6.9.13-40 or later
  3. 3. If running a 7.x version below 7.1.2-15, plan upgrade to version 7.1.2-15 or later
  4. 4. Use your system's package manager to upgrade (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get install imagemagick` for Debian/Ubuntu, or `yum update ImageMagick` for RHEL/CentOS)
  5. 5. Alternatively, compile from source if using a custom build: download the appropriate version from imagemagick.org
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed: `convert --version` or `magick --version`
  7. 7. Test that ImageMagick functions correctly with your workflows

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
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2026-25988 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