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ImagemagickApplication

CVE-2026-28688

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.9.13-41 / 7.1.2-16 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 7.1.2-16 and 6.9.13-41, a heap-use-after-free vulnerability exists in the MSL encoder, where a cloned image is destroyed twice. The MSL coder does not support writing MSL so the write capability has been removed. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.1.2-16 and 6.9.13-41.

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

A heap-use-after-free vulnerability exists in ImageMagick's MSL (Magick Scripting Language) encoder where a cloned image is destroyed twice, causing memory corruption. The vulnerability stems from the MSL coder attempting to write when it does not actually support MSL write operations, leading to a double-destroy of a cloned image object.

MitigationUpgrade ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-16 or 6.9.13-41 or later, which includes the fix that removes the unsupported write capability from the MSL coder.

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:< 6.9.13-41>= 7.0.0-0, < 7.1.2-16

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
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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 'convert -version' or 'magick -version' and note the version number in the output
    Affected if The version is less than 6.9.13-41, or is 7.0.0-0 through 7.1.2-15
  2. Verify MSL coder is available
    Run 'convert -list coder' or 'magick -list coder' and look for 'MSL' in the coder list
    Affected if MSL coder appears in the list, indicating the vulnerable component is present
  3. Identify MSL script usage in environment
    Search for .msl files on the system using 'find / -name "*.msl" 2>/dev/null' or review application code for MSL script execution
    Affected if Any .msl files exist or applications invoke MSL processing via ImageMagick
  4. Check for MSL write operations in logs or applications
    Review application logs or code for MSL operations, particularly any attempts to write/process images using MSL scripts
    Affected if MSL scripts are being processed by the affected ImageMagick installation
  5. Confirm ImageMagick was built with MSL support
    Run 'convert -list configure' or check build configuration for MSL module inclusion
    Affected if MSL support is compiled into the ImageMagick binary

You are affected if running a version before 6.9.13-41 or 7.1.2-16 AND the MSL coder is enabled and being used to process scripts, as the double-destroy occurs when MSL write operations are attempted.

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 6.9.13-41 / 7.1.2-16 or later
Fixed in 6.9.13-417.1.2-16
Interim mitigation

Upgrade ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-16 or 6.9.13-41 or later, which includes the fix that removes the unsupported write capability from the MSL coder.

Recommended fix High confidence

ImageMagick 7.x to 7.1.2-16 or later; ImageMagick 6.x to 6.9.13-41 or later

  1. 1. Identify your current ImageMagick version using 'convert -version' or 'magick -version'
  2. 2. If using ImageMagick 7.x, upgrade to version 7.1.2-16 or later
  3. 3. If using ImageMagick 6.x, upgrade to version 6.9.13-41 or later
  4. 4. Use your system's package manager (apt, yum, dnf, brew, etc.) or compile from source to obtain the fixed version
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the new version number
  6. 6. Test your image processing workflows to ensure functionality
Caveat The MSL write capability has been removed from the MSL coder - any workflows relying on writing MSL files will no longer work

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-2026-28688 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