CVE-2021-3610
📋 TL;DR
This heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in ImageMagick's TIFF image processing allows attackers to crash applications or potentially execute arbitrary code by providing malicious TIFF files. It affects systems running vulnerable ImageMagick versions that process TIFF images. The vulnerability stems from incorrect pixel array size calculation in the ReadTIFFImage() function.
💻 Affected Systems
- ImageMagick
📦 What is this software?
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Imagemagick by Imagemagick
Imagemagick by Imagemagick
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise if exploited successfully, allowing attackers to gain control of the affected system.
Likely Case
Application crash and denial of service through segmentation faults when processing malicious TIFF files, potentially disrupting image processing services.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and sandboxing, potentially only causing application crashes without code execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting a malicious TIFF file. The vulnerability is in image parsing code, making it accessible to unauthenticated users who can upload or provide TIFF files.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 7.0.11-14 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/commit/930ff0d1a9bc42925a7856e9ea53f5fc9f318bf3
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update ImageMagick to version 7.0.11-14 or later using your package manager. 2. For Linux: 'sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade imagemagick' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'sudo yum update imagemagick' (RHEL/CentOS). 3. Restart any services using ImageMagick.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable TIFF coder
linuxRemove or disable the TIFF image format support in ImageMagick configuration
sudo mv /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml.backup
echo '<policymap><policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="TIFF" /></policymap>' | sudo tee /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml
Input validation
allImplement strict file type validation to reject TIFF files before processing
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate ImageMagick services
- Use application sandboxing or containerization to limit impact
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ImageMagick version with 'convert --version' or 'magick --version' and verify it's below 7.0.11-14Check Version:
convert --version | head -1Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 7.0.11-14 or higher with 'convert --version' and test with known safe TIFF files📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Segmentation fault errors in application logs
- ImageMagick process crashes
- Failed TIFF image processing attempts
Network Indicators:
- Unusual TIFF file uploads to web applications
- TIFF files from unexpected sources
SIEM Query:
source="*app.log*" AND "segmentation fault" AND "ImageMagick"🔗 References
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/05/29/4
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/06/05/1
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1973689
- https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/commit/930ff0d1a9bc42925a7856e9ea53f5fc9f318bf3
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/05/29/4
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/06/05/1
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1973689
- https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/commit/930ff0d1a9bc42925a7856e9ea53f5fc9f318bf3
- https://github.com/fuzzing2026/CVE-PoCs/tree/main/imagemagick-CVE-2021-3610
