CVE-2026-55510 Overview
CVE-2026-55510 is a use-after-free vulnerability in ImageMagick, the open-source image editing and manipulation suite. The flaw occurs when ImageMagick identifies an image containing a crafted 8BIM profile with a specific format string. Processing the malicious profile triggers memory corruption in the identification routine. The issue affects ImageMagick releases prior to 6.9.13-51 and 7.1.2-26. Maintainers addressed the flaw in versions 6.9.13-51 and 7.1.2-26. The weakness is tracked under CWE-416: Use After Free.
Critical Impact
A local attacker who convinces a user to process a crafted image can cause a use-after-free in ImageMagick, leading to application crash or potential memory corruption with high availability impact.
Affected Products
- ImageMagick versions prior to 6.9.13-51 (6.x branch)
- ImageMagick versions prior to 7.1.2-26 (7.x branch)
- Applications and services that embed ImageMagick for image identification and processing
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-07-01 - CVE-2026-55510 published to the National Vulnerability Database
- 2026-07-01 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2026-55510
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability resides in ImageMagick's handling of 8BIM (Adobe Photoshop Image Resource) profile metadata during the image identification phase. When the parser encounters a specific format string inside a crafted 8BIM profile, it accesses memory that has already been freed. This use-after-free condition can crash the process or corrupt heap state during subsequent allocations.
Because ImageMagick is widely embedded in web services, document processing pipelines, and desktop applications, any workflow that calls identify or equivalent APIs on untrusted images is exposed. The attack requires local access and user interaction to open or process the malicious file. Confidentiality and integrity are not directly impacted, but availability is high.
Root Cause
The root cause is improper lifecycle management of a memory object referenced during 8BIM profile parsing. The parser frees a buffer or structure and then dereferences a stale pointer when it encounters a particular format string sequence. This class of bug, categorized as CWE-416, can lead to deterministic crashes and, depending on heap layout, to controlled memory reuse.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires a victim to invoke ImageMagick on an attacker-supplied image that contains the crafted 8BIM profile. The vector is local with user interaction, so common paths include email attachments, downloaded assets, or files placed into monitored directories consumed by automated pipelines. No authentication is required to craft the payload. Refer to the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-ff5c-8x9r-8qcw for maintainer-supplied technical details.
// No verified public proof-of-concept code is available.
// Vulnerability mechanism: identifying an image with a
// crafted 8BIM profile containing a specific format
// string triggers use-after-free in ImageMagick versions
// prior to 6.9.13-51 and 7.1.2-26.
Detection Methods for CVE-2026-55510
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected crashes or SIGSEGV terminations of magick, convert, or identify processes when handling user-supplied images
- Image files containing anomalous or oversized 8BIM (Photoshop) profile segments with unusual format string content
- Core dumps from ImageMagick worker processes on servers that ingest untrusted images
Detection Strategies
- Inventory installed ImageMagick versions across endpoints, build systems, and container images, and flag anything below 6.9.13-51 or 7.1.2-26
- Enable ImageMagick logging and monitor for abnormal termination during profile parsing operations
- Scan inbound image files in mail, web upload, and storage pipelines for 8BIM segments containing suspicious format specifiers
Monitoring Recommendations
- Alert on repeated ImageMagick process crashes originating from the same source directory or user
- Track EDR telemetry for child process termination events tied to image conversion utilities
- Correlate file ingestion events with subsequent ImageMagick failures to identify probing activity
How to Mitigate CVE-2026-55510
Immediate Actions Required
- Upgrade ImageMagick to version 6.9.13-51 or 7.1.2-26 or later on all systems
- Rebuild and redeploy container images and application bundles that statically link or embed ImageMagick
- Restrict ImageMagick execution to sandboxed, least-privilege service accounts wherever untrusted images are processed
Patch Information
The ImageMagick maintainers fixed the use-after-free in the 6.9.13-51 and 7.1.2-26 releases. Details and commit references are available in the ImageMagick GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-ff5c-8x9r-8qcw. Distribution maintainers typically backport the fix, so apply vendor security updates from your Linux distribution or package manager.
Workarounds
- Configure the ImageMagick policy.xml to disable processing of untrusted profile data or restrict allowed coders where 8BIM metadata is not required
- Strip 8BIM and other Photoshop metadata from inbound images using a hardened preprocessor before invoking ImageMagick
- Run ImageMagick inside a seccomp, AppArmor, or SELinux confined profile to contain the impact of a successful crash or memory corruption
# Example: strip 8BIM profile before further processing
# using a patched ImageMagick build, then hand off the
# sanitized file to downstream consumers.
magick input.jpg -strip sanitized.jpg
# Example policy.xml hardening (place in /etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml)
# <policymap>
# <policy domain="module" rights="none" pattern="8BIM" />
# <policy domain="resource" name="memory" value="256MiB" />
# </policymap>
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
