CVE-2026-28692: ImageMagick Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2026-28692 Overview

CVE-2026-28692 is a heap over-read vulnerability in ImageMagick, the widely-used open-source software for editing and manipulating digital images. The vulnerability exists in the MAT decoder component, which uses 32-bit arithmetic due to incorrect parenthesization, resulting in an out-of-bounds read condition. This flaw affects ImageMagick versions prior to 7.1.2-16 and 6.9.13-41.

Critical Impact

Attackers can exploit this heap over-read vulnerability via network-accessible image processing to potentially leak sensitive memory contents or cause application crashes, affecting confidentiality and availability.

Affected Products

• ImageMagick versions prior to 7.1.2-16
• ImageMagick versions prior to 6.9.13-41
• Applications and services utilizing vulnerable ImageMagick libraries for MAT file processing

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-10 - CVE-2026-28692 published to NVD
• 2026-03-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-28692

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-125 (Out-of-Bounds Read), a memory safety issue where the application reads data beyond the boundaries of the intended buffer. The flaw resides specifically within the MAT decoder component of ImageMagick.

The root cause stems from incorrect parenthesization in arithmetic operations, causing the decoder to use 32-bit arithmetic when processing MAT image files. This miscalculation leads to improper bounds checking, allowing the software to read memory beyond the allocated heap buffer. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could potentially access sensitive information stored in adjacent memory regions or trigger denial of service conditions through application crashes.

The attack requires an attacker to deliver a specially crafted MAT image file to a system running a vulnerable version of ImageMagick. The network attack vector combined with the requirement for specific exploitation conditions means successful attacks require some technical sophistication, though no user interaction is necessary.

Root Cause

The vulnerability originates from a coding error in the MAT decoder's arithmetic operations. Due to incorrect parenthesization, calculations that should use 64-bit arithmetic instead utilize 32-bit operations. This causes integer overflow or incorrect offset calculations when processing MAT image dimensions or data, ultimately leading to heap buffer over-read conditions when the decoder attempts to access pixel data or metadata beyond allocated memory boundaries.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network, though with high attack complexity. An attacker must craft a malicious MAT image file with specific properties designed to trigger the arithmetic miscalculation in the vulnerable decoder. Common attack scenarios include:

When ImageMagick processes the malicious MAT file, the incorrect 32-bit arithmetic causes the decoder to calculate invalid memory offsets. The software then reads beyond the heap buffer boundary, potentially exposing sensitive data from adjacent memory or causing the application to crash. This affects web applications processing user-uploaded images, document conversion services, and any automated image processing pipelines using vulnerable ImageMagick versions.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-28692

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected ImageMagick process crashes when handling MAT format images
• Memory access violations or segmentation faults in ImageMagick-related processes
• Unusual memory consumption patterns during MAT file processing
• Application logs showing errors related to MAT decoder operations

Detection Strategies

• Monitor ImageMagick processes for abnormal termination events, particularly when processing MAT files
• Implement file type validation to identify and flag MAT format images entering the environment
• Deploy memory safety monitoring tools to detect out-of-bounds read attempts in ImageMagick processes
• Review application logs for decoder-related errors or memory access exceptions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for ImageMagick operations to capture decoder errors and warnings
• Implement endpoint detection rules to identify potential exploitation attempts via malformed image files
• Monitor network traffic for unusual image file transfers, particularly MAT format files from untrusted sources
• Configure alerting for ImageMagick service crashes or abnormal restarts

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-28692

Immediate Actions Required

• Update ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-16 or later (for 7.x branch)
• Update ImageMagick to version 6.9.13-41 or later (for 6.x branch)
• Audit all systems and containers for ImageMagick installations and prioritize patching
• Review dependencies in applications that bundle or utilize ImageMagick libraries

Patch Information

ImageMagick has released security updates that fix this vulnerability. The patched versions are 7.1.2-16 for the 7.x release branch and 6.9.13-41 for the 6.x legacy branch. Organizations should update to these versions or later to remediate the heap over-read vulnerability in the MAT decoder. Detailed information about the fix is available in the GitHub Security Advisory.

Workarounds

• Disable MAT format processing in ImageMagick's policy.xml configuration file if MAT support is not required
• Implement input validation to reject MAT format images at the application layer before processing
• Use containerization or sandboxing to isolate ImageMagick processes and limit potential impact
• Configure resource limits for ImageMagick to reduce the risk of exploitation

# Configuration example - Disable MAT decoder in ImageMagick policy.xml
# Add the following line to /etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml or equivalent

<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="MAT" />