CVE-2025-53014

Heap Buffer Overflow in InterpretImageFilename

A heap buffer overflow was identified in the InterpretImageFilename function of ImageMagick. The issue stems from an off-by-one error that causes out-of-bounds memory access when processing format strings containing consecutive percent signs (%%).

Environment

• OS: Arch Linux (Linux gmkhost 6.14.2-arch1-1 # 1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu, 10 Apr 2025 18:43:59 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux (GNU libc) 2.41)
• Architecture: x86_64
• Compiler: gcc (GCC) 15.1.1 20250425

Reproduction

Build Instructions

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick.git
cd ImageMagick
git reset --hard 8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12

# Build with AddressSanitizer
export CFLAGS="-fsanitize=address -g -O1"
export CXXFLAGS="-fsanitize=address -g -O1"
export LDFLAGS="-fsanitizer=address"
./configure
make

# Set library path and trigger the crash
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$(pwd)/MagickWand/.libs:$(pwd)/MagickCore/.libs:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
./utilities/.libs/magick %% a

Minimum Trigger

./utilities/.libs/magick %% [any_output_filename]

Crash Analysis

AddressSanitizer Output

$ ./utilities/.libs/magick %% a
=================================================================
==2227694==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow on address 0x7037f99e3ad3 at pc 0x741801e81a17 bp 0x7ffd22fa4e00 sp 0x7ffd22fa45b8
READ of size 1 at 0x7037f99e3ad3 thread T0
    #0 0x741801e81a16 in strchr /usr/src/debug/gcc/gcc/libsanitizer/sanitizer_common/sanitizer_common_interceptors.inc:746
    #1 0x7418013b4f06 in InterpretImageFilename MagickCore/image.c:1674
    #2 0x7418012826a3 in ReadImages MagickCore/constitute.c:1040
    #3 0x741800e4696b in CLINoImageOperator MagickWand/operation.c:4959
    #4 0x741800e64de7 in CLIOption MagickWand/operation.c:5473
    #5 0x741800d92edf in ProcessCommandOptions MagickWand/magick-cli.c:653
    #6 0x741800d94816 in MagickImageCommand MagickWand/magick-cli.c:1392
    #7 0x741800d913e4 in MagickCommandGenesis MagickWand/magick-cli.c:177
    #8 0x5ef7a3546638 in MagickMain utilities/magick.c:162
    #9 0x5ef7a3546872 in main utilities/magick.c:193
    #10 0x7417ff53f6b4  (/usr/lib/libc.so.6+0x276b4) (BuildId: 468e3585c794491a48ea75fceb9e4d6b1464fc35)
    #11 0x7417ff53f768 in __libc_start_main (/usr/lib/libc.so.6+0x27768) (BuildId: 468e3585c794491a48ea75fceb9e4d6b1464fc35)
    #12 0x5ef7a3546204 in _start (/home/kforfk/workspace/fuzz_analysis/saigen/ImageMagick/utilities/.libs/magick+0x2204) (BuildId: 96677b60628cf297eaedb3eb17b87000d29403f2)

0x7037f99e3ad3 is located 0 bytes after 3-byte region [0x7037f99e3ad0,0x7037f99e3ad3)
allocated by thread T0 here:
    #0 0x741801f20e15 in malloc /usr/src/debug/gcc/gcc/libsanitizer/asan/asan_malloc_linux.cpp:67
    #1 0x7418013e86bc in AcquireMagickMemory MagickCore/memory.c:559

SUMMARY: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow MagickCore/image.c:1674 in InterpretImageFilename
Shadow bytes around the buggy address:
  0x7037f99e3800: fa fa 07 fa fa fa 00 fa fa fa fd fa fa fa fd fa
  0x7037f99e3880: fa fa 07 fa fa fa 00 fa fa fa fd fa fa fa fd fa
  0x7037f99e3900: fa fa 07 fa fa fa 00 fa fa fa fd fa fa fa fd fa
  0x7037f99e3980: fa fa 07 fa fa fa 00 fa fa fa fd fa fa fa fd fa
  0x7037f99e3a00: fa fa 07 fa fa fa fd fa fa fa fd fa fa fa 00 04
=>0x7037f99e3a80: fa fa 00 04 fa fa 00 00 fa fa[03]fa fa fa 03 fa
  0x7037f99e3b00: fa fa 00 01 fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x7037f99e3b80: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x7037f99e3c00: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x7037f99e3c80: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
  0x7037f99e3d00: fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Shadow byte legend (one shadow byte represents 8 application bytes):
  Addressable:           00
  Partially addressable: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 
  Heap left redzone:       fa
  Freed heap region:       fd
  Stack left redzone:      f1
  Stack mid redzone:       f2
  Stack right redzone:     f3
  Stack after return:      f5
  Stack use after scope:   f8
  Global redzone:          f9
  Global init order:       f6
  Poisoned by user:        f7
  Container overflow:      fc
  Array cookie:            ac
  Intra object redzone:    bb
  ASan internal:           fe
  Left alloca redzone:     ca
  Right alloca redzone:    cb
==2227694==ABORTING

Root Cause Analysis

The first command line argument is interpreted as MagickImageCommand:
https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/utilities/magick.c#L83

const CommandInfo
  MagickCommands[] =
  {
    MagickCommandSize("magick", MagickFalse, MagickImageCommand),

It is invoked here:
https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickWand/magick-cli.c#L220

status=command(image_info,argc,argv,&text,exception);

The execution then follows this path:

• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickWand/magick-cli.c#L1387
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickWand/magick-cli.c#L586
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickWand/magick-cli.c#L419
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickWand/operation.c#L5391
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickWand/operation.c#L5473
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickWand/operation.c#L4959
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickCore/constitute.c#L1009
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickCore/constitute.c#L1039
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickCore/image.c#L1649
• https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/blob/8fff9b4f44d2e8b5cae2bd6db70930a144d15f12/MagickCore/image.c#L1674

The execution eventually reaches InterpretImageFilename and enters a loop. The format variable here is "%%". At this point, it is safe to access *(format + 2) but not safe to access *(format + 3).

for (p=strchr(format,'%'); p != (char *) NULL; p=strchr(p+1,'%'))
{
  q=(char *) p+1;
  if (*q == '%')
    {
      p=q+1;
      continue;
    }

The first strchr call returns a pointer equal to format and assigns it to p. Then q is initialized with p + 1 (format + 1), and *q is '%', so the code enters the if branch. Here, p is reassigned to q + 1 (format + 2).

In the next iteration, p + 1 (format + 3) is passed to strchr, and when strchr accesses it, this causes an out-of-bounds read.

A read operation accesses a memory location beyond the intended buffer boundary. Typical impact: sensitive data disclosure or crash.

CVE-2025-53014 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (14.7.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2025-53014? CVE-2025-53014 is a low-severity out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU (nuget), affecting versions < 14.7.0. It is fixed in 14.7.0. A read operation accesses a memory location beyond the intended buffer boundary.
2. How severe is CVE-2025-53014? CVE-2025-53014 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which packages are affected by CVE-2025-53014?
   • Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-arm64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-x64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q16-x86 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q8-arm64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q8-x64 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
   • Magick.NET-Q8-x86 (nuget) (versions < 14.7.0)
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-53014? Yes. CVE-2025-53014 is fixed in 14.7.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2025-53014 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-53014 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-53014 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2025-53014?
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-arm64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-x64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-x86 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-arm64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-x64 to 14.7.0 or later
   • Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-x86 to 14.7.0 or later