CVE-2025-69204: ImageMagick DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-69204 Overview

CVE-2025-69204 is an integer overflow vulnerability in ImageMagick, a widely-used free and open-source software suite for editing and manipulating digital images. The vulnerability exists in the WriteSVGImage function where an int variable is used to store number_attributes, which can trigger an integer overflow. This overflow subsequently causes a buffer overflow condition that can be exploited to perform a Denial of Service (DoS) attack against systems processing maliciously crafted SVG images.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability to crash ImageMagick processes through specially crafted SVG files, causing service disruption on systems that process user-supplied images.

Affected Products

• ImageMagick versions prior to 7.1.2-12
• Applications and services utilizing vulnerable ImageMagick libraries for image processing
• Web applications that accept and process SVG uploads using ImageMagick

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-12-30 - CVE-2025-69204 published to NVD
• 2026-01-06 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-69204

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from improper handling of integer values in ImageMagick's SVG processing code. The WriteSVGImage function uses an int type variable to store the number_attributes count. When processing SVG files with an excessive number of attributes, this integer value can overflow, wrapping around to a negative or small positive value. The overflow condition subsequently triggers a buffer overflow as memory allocation and access operations rely on this corrupted value.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound), which occurs when an arithmetic operation attempts to create a numeric value outside the range that can be represented with a given number of bits. The flaw enables remote attackers to craft malicious SVG files that, when processed by ImageMagick, cause the application to crash, resulting in a denial of service condition.

Root Cause

The root cause is the use of an inappropriately sized integer type (int) to store the number_attributes variable in the SVG processing code. When the number of attributes exceeds the maximum value representable by a signed 32-bit integer, the value overflows. This flawed value is then used in subsequent memory operations, leading to buffer overflow conditions. The fix involves implementing proper bounds checking on recursion depth counters before incrementing them.

Attack Vector

The attack can be executed remotely over the network without requiring authentication or user interaction. An attacker needs to craft a malicious SVG file containing excessive attributes or nested elements designed to trigger the integer overflow. This file can be delivered to vulnerable systems through various means:

1. Direct upload to web applications that process images using ImageMagick
2. Embedding in documents that are automatically processed
3. Delivery via email attachments to automated processing systems
4. Inclusion in web content processed by server-side image conversion utilities

The following patch from the ImageMagick repository addresses the vulnerability by fixing the recursion depth check logic:

     name);
   parser=(xmlParserCtxtPtr) context;
   svg_info=(SVGInfo *) parser->_private;
-  if (svg_info->n++ > MagickMaxRecursionDepth)
+  if (svg_info->n >= MagickMaxRecursionDepth)
     {
       (void) ThrowMagickException(svg_info->exception,GetMagickModule(),
         DrawError,"VectorGraphicsNestedTooDeeply","`%s'",name);
       xmlStopParser((xmlParserCtxtPtr) context);
       return;
     }
+  svg_info->n++;
   svg_info->scale=(double *) ResizeQuantumMemory(svg_info->scale,(size_t)
     svg_info->n+1,sizeof(*svg_info->scale));
   if (svg_info->scale == (double *) NULL)

Source: GitHub Commit Update

The fix changes the order of operations: it now checks if the recursion depth has reached the maximum limit before incrementing, preventing the counter from exceeding safe bounds.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-69204

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected ImageMagick process crashes or termination signals when processing SVG files
• Abnormally large or complex SVG files appearing in upload directories or processing queues
• Application log entries indicating segmentation faults or memory access violations in ImageMagick components
• Increased memory usage or allocation failures in image processing services

Detection Strategies

• Monitor system logs for ImageMagick crash events, specifically looking for segfaults in coders/svg.c or related SVG processing modules
• Implement file inspection rules to detect SVG files with excessive attribute counts or deeply nested structures
• Deploy application-level monitoring to track ImageMagick process stability and crash frequency
• Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerable ImageMagick library versions in your environment

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure crash monitoring and alerting for ImageMagick processes across all systems
• Implement input validation and file size limits for SVG uploads before ImageMagick processing
• Enable verbose logging for image processing pipelines to capture processing failures
• Monitor network traffic for unusual patterns of SVG file submissions

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-69204

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-12 or later immediately on all affected systems
• Audit all applications and services that depend on ImageMagick for image processing
• Implement SVG file validation and sanitization before processing with ImageMagick
• Consider temporarily disabling SVG processing if immediate patching is not possible

Patch Information

ImageMagick has released version 7.1.2-12 which contains the security fix for this vulnerability. The patch modifies the recursion depth checking logic in coders/svg.c to properly validate bounds before incrementing counters. The fix is available through the official GitHub commit. Administrators should update to the latest version through their package manager or by compiling from source using the patched codebase.

Workarounds

• Disable SVG input processing by modifying ImageMagick's policy.xml configuration to block SVG format handling
• Implement strict file size and complexity limits for all uploaded images
• Use a sandboxed environment or containerization for ImageMagick processing to limit impact of crashes
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to filter potentially malicious SVG uploads

# Configuration example - Disable SVG processing in ImageMagick policy.xml
# Add to /etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml within the <policymap> section
cat >> /etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml << 'EOF'
  <policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="SVG" />
  <policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="MSVG" />
EOF

# Verify the policy is in effect
convert -list policy | grep -i svg