CVE-2026-56373
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 · uneditedImageMagick before 7.1.2-15 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the PDB decoder that uses a stale pointer when memory allocation fails. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by processing malicious PDB files to cause crashes or write a single zero byte to freed memory.
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 confidenceImageMagick before 7.1.2-15 has a use-after-free vulnerability in the PDB image format decoder. When memory allocation fails during PDB processing, the code uses a stale pointer that references already-freed memory. Attackers can exploit this by tricking users into processing maliciously crafted PDB files, causing denial-of-service crashes or writing a single zero byte to freed memory locations.
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< 6.9.13-40>= 7.0.0-0, < 7.1.2-15CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed ImageMagick versionRun 'magick --version' or 'convert --version' to determine the exact version numberAffected if Version is less than 6.9.13-40, OR version is 7.0.0-0 through 7.1.2-14
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Confirm PDB format decoder is availableRun 'identify -list format' and look for PDB in the output, or check if coders/pdb.c exists in the ImageMagick installationAffected if PDB format support is compiled in and available to ImageMagick
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Check if PDB format is enabled in policyExamine /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml or /etc/ImageMagick/policy.xml (location varies by installation) for any 'PDB' entries under the <policymap> sectionAffected if No explicit policy restriction for PDB format exists, meaning PDB files can be processed
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Test PDB file processing capabilityAttempt to identify a benign PDB file using 'identify <file.pdb>' or check if ImageMagick reports an error when processing PDB formatAffected if ImageMagick successfully processes or attempts to process PDB files without blocking them
You are affected if your ImageMagick version falls within the vulnerable range AND PDB format support is enabled and not restricted by policy.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped6.9.13-407.1.2-15
Upgrade ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-15 or later. Until upgrade is possible, disable PDB format support in ImageMagick policy configurations or avoid processing untrusted PDB files.
ImageMagick 6.9.13-40 (for 6.x branch) or 7.1.2-15 (for 7.x branch)
- 1. Identify the currently installed ImageMagick version using 'convert --version' or 'magick --version'
- 2. If running ImageMagick 6.x version (< 6.9.13-40): Upgrade to ImageMagick 6.9.13-40 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. If running ImageMagick 7.x version (< 7.1.2-15): Upgrade to ImageMagick 7.1.2-15 or later using your system's package manager
- 4. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed with 'convert --version'
- 5. Test that PDB file processing still works as expected with the upgraded version
- 6. If using ImageMagick in production, schedule the upgrade during a maintenance window and back up configurations
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-56373 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-56373 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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