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GHSA-qp59-x883-77qv

MediumCVSS 6.5 / 10
Published Jan 21, 2026·Last modified Feb 3, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Summary

A memory leak vulnerability exists in the LoadOpenCLDeviceBenchmark() function in MagickCore/opencl.c. When parsing a malformed OpenCL device profile XML file that contains <device elements without proper /> closing tags, the function fails to release allocated memory for string members (platform_name, vendor_name, name, version), leading to memory leaks that could result in resource exhaustion.

Affected Version: ImageMagick 7.1.2-12 and possibly earlier versions


Details

The vulnerability is located in MagickCore/opencl.c, function LoadOpenCLDeviceBenchmark() (lines 754-911).

Root Cause Analysis:

  1. When a <device tag is encountered, a MagickCLDeviceBenchmark structure is allocated (line 807-812)
  2. String attributes (platform, vendor, name, version) are allocated via ConstantString() (lines 878, 885, 898, 900)
  3. These strings are only freed when a /> closing tag is encountered (lines 840-849)
  4. At function exit (lines 908-910), only the device_benchmark structure is freed, but its member variables are not freed if /> was never parsed

Vulnerable Code (lines 908-910):

token=(char *) RelinquishMagickMemory(token);
device_benchmark=(MagickCLDeviceBenchmark *) RelinquishMagickMemory(
  device_benchmark);  // BUG: members (platform_name, vendor_name, name, version) not freed!

Correct cleanup (only executed when /> is found, lines 840-849):

device_benchmark->platform_name=(char *) RelinquishMagickMemory(device_benchmark->platform_name);
device_benchmark->vendor_name=(char *) RelinquishMagickMemory(device_benchmark->vendor_name);
device_benchmark->name=(char *) RelinquishMagickMemory(device_benchmark->name);
device_benchmark->version=(char *) RelinquishMagickMemory(device_benchmark->version);
device_benchmark=(MagickCLDeviceBenchmark *) RelinquishMagickMemory(device_benchmark);

PoC

Environment:

  • OS: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (Linux 6.8.0-87-generic x86_64)
  • Compiler: GCC 11.4.0
  • ImageMagick: 7.1.2-13 (commit a52c1b402be08ef8ae193f28ac5b2e120f2fa26f)

Step 1: Build ImageMagick with AddressSanitizer

cd ImageMagick
./configure \
    CFLAGS="-g -O0 -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer" \
    CXXFLAGS="-g -O0 -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer" \
    LDFLAGS="-fsanitize=address" \
    --disable-openmp
make -j$(nproc)

Step 2: Create malformed XML file

Step 3: Place file in OpenCL cache directory

mkdir -p ~/.cache/ImageMagick
cp malformed_opencl_profile.xml ~/.cache/ImageMagick/ImagemagickOpenCLDeviceProfile.xml

Step 4: Run ImageMagick with leak detection

export ASAN_OPTIONS="detect_leaks=1:symbolize=1"
./utilities/magick -size 100x100 xc:red output.png

ASAN Output:

=================================================================
==2543490==ERROR: LeakSanitizer: detected memory leaks

Direct leak of 96 byte(s) in 2 object(s) allocated from:
    #0 ... in AcquireMagickMemory MagickCore/memory.c:536
    #1 ... in LoadOpenCLDeviceBenchmark MagickCore/opencl.c:807

Direct leak of 16 byte(s) in 1 object(s) allocated from:
    #0 ... in ConstantString MagickCore/string.c:692
    #1 ... in LoadOpenCLDeviceBenchmark MagickCore/opencl.c:878  ← name

Direct leak of 14 byte(s) in 1 object(s) allocated from:
    #0 ... in ConstantString MagickCore/string.c:692
    #1 ... in LoadOpenCLDeviceBenchmark MagickCore/opencl.c:885  ← platform_name

Direct leak of 14 byte(s) in 1 object(s) allocated from:
    #0 ... in ConstantString MagickCore/string.c:692
    #1 ... in LoadOpenCLDeviceBenchmark MagickCore/opencl.c:898  ← vendor_name

Direct leak of 15 byte(s) in 1 object(s) allocated from:
    #0 ... in ConstantString MagickCore/string.c:692
    #1 ... in LoadOpenCLDeviceBenchmark MagickCore/opencl.c:900  ← version

SUMMARY: AddressSanitizer: 203 byte(s) leaked in 18 allocation(s).

Impact

Vulnerability Type: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

Severity: Low

Who is impacted:

  • Users who have OpenCL enabled in ImageMagick
  • Systems where an attacker can place or modify files in the OpenCL cache directory (~/.cache/ImageMagick/)
  • Long-running ImageMagick processes or services that repeatedly initialize OpenCL

Potential consequences:

  • Memory exhaustion over time if the malformed configuration is repeatedly loaded
  • Denial of Service (DoS) in resource-constrained environments

Attack Vector: Local - requires write access to the user's OpenCL cache directory

Risk Scores
Base Score
6.5

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is difficult for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability and may require special conditions. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a low impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
6.0

Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.

EPSS
0.17%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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