CVE-2026-25638 | ImageMagick has memory leak in msl encoder

ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Prior to versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, memory leak exists in `coders/msl.c`. In the `WriteMSLImage` function of the `msl.c` file, resources are allocated. But the function returns early without releasing these allocated resources. Versions 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40 contain a patch.

Published: 2026-02-24 Last update: 2026-02-24 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-25638 is rated Low Risk (22.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-25638

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-03 0.05% 0.02% -0.03%
2 2026-03-02 0.04% 0.05% +0.02%
3 2026-02-24 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-25638

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-25638

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-25638

GHSA-gxcx-qjqp-8vjw · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: nuget — ImageMagick has memory leak in msl encoder

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-25638

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2026-25638: 1 source package rows (imagemagick); 82 state rows across 2 repos (3.23-community, edge-community); fixed 8, open 74. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-25638
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-25638 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (imagemagick), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-25638
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-25638
suse medium CVE-2026-25638 severity moderate: SUSE including 87 source package names (2.2.1-5.54:rsync-3.3.0-slfo.1.1_4.1, 2.2.1-5.62:rsync-3.3.0-slfo.1.1_4.1, …), 275 product×package rows across 45 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/baremetal-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/base-os-container, … (45 product lines)): Fixed 215, Known Not Affected 46, First Fixed 14. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-25638/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-25638 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (imagemagick), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 8. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-25638

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-25638

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
imagemagick imagemagick < 6.9.13-40 cpe:2.3:a:imagemagick:imagemagick:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
imagemagick imagemagick >= 7.0.0-0, < 7.1.2-15 cpe:2.3:a:imagemagick:imagemagick:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-25638

cvelogic Threat Intelligence