CVE-2026-123273
Description
A flaw was found in ImageMagick. An attacker can cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by submitting a specially crafted Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) image. Due to improper validation of pixel cache dimensions during decoding, the application enters an infinite loop while processing the image. This behavior exhausts CPU resources and hangs the image decoding worker.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate severity because it is limited to a denial of service condition without compromising system confidentiality or data integrity. In typical Red Hat deployments, ImageMagick operates as a backend library or command-line utility, exposing environments to risk only when applications accept and process untrusted vector graphics. While an exploit can exhaust CPU resources and cause decoding worker processes to hang, it does not allow memory corruption or arbitrary code execution.
Mitigation
Disable SVG decoding within the ImageMagick security policy configuration.
Edit `/etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml` (or `/etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml`, depending on the installed version) and add the following line inside the `<policymap>` element:
xml
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="SVG" />
Caveats:
Disabling this coder prevents ImageMagick from reading, converting, or rendering any SVG files. Applications requiring SVG conversion will fail to process those files.
Warning:
If ImageMagick is invoked by persistent background services, daemons, or web application servers, those dependent services must be restarted or reloaded for the policy 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 | 6.5 | N/A | 6.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Amplification
An infinite loop will cause unexpected consumption of resources, such as CPU cycles or memory. The software's operation may slow down, or cause a long time to respond.
Frequently Asked Questions
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