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ImagemagickApplication

CVE-2026-28689

MEDIUM · 6.3 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 →
65/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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, domain="path" authorization is checked before final file open/use. A symlink swap between check-time and use-time bypasses policy-denied read/write. 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

ImageMagick suffers from a TOCTOU (time-of-check to time-of-use) race condition where policy authorization is verified before file operations but a symlink can be swapped between the check and use phases, allowing bypass of read/write policy restrictions.

MitigationUpgrade ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-16 or later (for v7) or 6.9.13-41 or later (for v6) to obtain the patched version.

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

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

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 installed ImageMagick version
    Run `identify -version` (for ImageMagick 7) or `identify -version` (for ImageMagick 6), or check via package manager: `dpkg -l | grep imagemagick` or `rpm -qa | grep -i imagemagick`
    Affected if The installed version falls below 6.9.13-41 (for v6) or below 7.1.2-16 (for v7)
  2. Locate the policy configuration file
    Check for policy.xml in common locations: /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml, /etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml, /usr/local/etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml, or examine the MAGICK_CONFIGURE_PATH environment variable
    Affected if A policy.xml file exists and contains security restrictions (such as <policy domain="path" rights="none" pattern="*"/> or specific file read/write denials)
  3. Verify ImageMagick binary location
    Run `which identify` or `which magick` to determine which binary is being used, and check if multiple versions are installed via `ls -la /usr/bin/identify` or similar paths
    Affected if Multiple ImageMagick versions are installed or the binary is from an untrusted path, indicating potential for version confusion

You are affected if your installed ImageMagick version is below 6.9.13-41 (v6) or below 7.1.2-16 (v7) and you rely on policy.xml restrictions to limit file read/write operations, as the TOCTOU race condition can allow symlink swapping to bypass those restrictions.

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 later (for v7) or 6.9.13-41 or later (for v6) to obtain the patched version.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to ImageMagick 6.9.13-41 (for 6.x users) or 7.1.2-16 (for 7.x users)

  1. 1. Identify your current ImageMagick version using 'convert --version' or 'magick --version'
  2. 2. If you are using ImageMagick 6.x branch (version < 6.9.13-41), upgrade to version 6.9.13-41 or later using your system's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install imagemagick, yum update imagemagick, or brew upgrade imagemagick)
  3. 3. If you are using ImageMagick 7.x branch (version >= 7.0.0 and < 7.1.2-16), upgrade to version 7.1.2-16 or later
  4. 4. After upgrading, verify the new version is installed by running 'convert --version' or 'magick --version'
  5. 5. Test that ImageMagick functionality works as expected with your applications
Caveat Security patch with minimal expected breaking changes; always test in staging before production deployment

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

Fix this in Imagemagick Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2026-28689 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