ImageMagick's failure to limit the depth of SVG file reads caused a DoS attack

Description

Summary

Using Magick to read a malicious SVG file resulted in a DoS attack.

Details

bt obtained using gdb:

#4 0x0000555555794c9c in ResizeMagickMemory (memory=0x7fffee203800, size=391344) at MagickCore/memory.c:1443
#5 0x0000555555794e5a in ResizeQuantumMemory (memory=0x7fffee203800, count=48918, quantum=8) 
at MagickCore/memory.c:1508
#6 0x0000555555acc8ed in SVGStartElement (context=0x517000000080, name=0x5190000055e3 "g", attributes=0x0) 
at coders/svg.c:1254
#7 0x00007ffff6799b1c in xmlParseStartTag () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxml2.so.2
#8 0x00007ffff68c7bb8 in () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxml2.so.2
#9 0x00007ffff67a03f1 in xmlParseChunk () at /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxml2.so.2

This is related to the SVGStartElement and ResizeQuantumMemory functions.

PoC

  1. Generate an SVG file

  2. Read this file using Magick:

./magick /data/ylwang/Tools/LargeScan/targets/ImageMagick/test++/1.svg null
  1. Causes a DoS Attack

My server has a large amount of memory, causing a stack overflow to take a long time. I'll use the Windows release version as an example:

PS C:\Program Files\ImageMagick-7.1.2-Q8> .\magick.exe -ping 1.svg null:
PS C:\Program Files\ImageMagick-7.1.2-Q8> echo $LASTEXITCODE
-1073741571

The error code -1073741571 indicates a crash due to a stack overflow.

Impact

This is a DoS vulnerability and all applications using Magick to parse SVG files are affected.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2025-12-30 22:54:32 UTC
Updated
2025-12-30 22:54:34 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2025-12-30 22:54:32 UTC
NVD published
2025-12-30

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.10% 27.83%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.3 3.1
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.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-674 Uncontrolled Recursion

Credits

  • ylwango613 (reporter)

Affected packages (17)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-x86 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q8-x86 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q8-arm64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-x64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-arm64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1
nuget Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64 < 14.10.1 14.10.1

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence