CVE-2026-116146
Description
A flaw was found in ImageMagick. The Magick Scripting Language (MSL) decoder fails to release allocated memory when processing specially crafted MSL files. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing malicious MSL files for processing, resulting in excessive resource consumption and a Denial of Service (DoS).
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Low impact because exploitation requires tricking an application into parsing an untrusted Magick Scripting Language (MSL) file, and standard command-line usage releases all allocated resources when the process terminates. A sustained denial-of-service condition through memory exhaustion would only manifest in long-running services or persistent daemon workflows that repeatedly handle untrusted MSL inputs without restarting the process. Red Hat Enterprise Linux releases are primarily affected through optional or legacy image processing deployments rather than core system daemons.
Mitigation
Disable the MSL decoder in the ImageMagick security policy configuration.
Edit the policy configuration file (such as `/etc/ImageMagick/policy.xml` or `/etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml`) and add the following rule inside the `<policymap>` section:
xml
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="MSL" />
Caveats:
Disabling this coder will prevent legitimate Magick Scripting Language (MSL) scripts and image files from being decoded. Any long-running services, daemons, or web applications utilizing ImageMagick libraries must be restarted for configuration changes to take effect.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 3.7 | N/A | 3.7 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (Other); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
An attacker that can influence the allocation of resources that are not properly released could deplete the available resource pool and prevent all other processes from accessing the same type of resource. Frequently-affected resources include memory, CPU, disk space, power or battery, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
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