CVE-2026-25637: ImageMagick Possible Memory Leak Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-gm37-qx7w-p258
CVSS 5.3
CWE-401
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-25637 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.3) possible memory leak vulnerability (CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime) affecting ImageMagick libraries in the NuGet ecosystem. The issue involves possible memory leak in ashlar encoder. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 14.10.3.

CVE-2026-25637 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-25637
GHSA Identifier GHSA-gm37-qx7w-p258
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.3
CWE Classification CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
Affected Product ImageMagick
Package Ecosystem NuGet
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.3

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability Low (A:L)

How to Fix CVE-2026-25637

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected ImageMagick dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x86 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x86 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-arm64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-arm64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-x64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-x64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-x86 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q16-x86 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-arm64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-arm64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-x64 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-x64 to 14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-x86 fixed: 14.10.3
Upgrade Magick.NET-Q8-x86 to 14.10.3
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2026-25637, inspect your project dependencies for ImageMagick:

inspect dependencies for Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of ImageMagick in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 14.10.3), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime, where the product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse. In ImageMagick, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

A memory leak in the ASHLAR image writer allows an attacker to exhaust process memory by providing a crafted image that results in small objects that are allocated but never freed. ``` ==880062== Memcheck, a memory error detector ==880062== Copyright (C) 2002-2017, and GNU GPL'd, by Julian Seward et al. ==880062== Using Valgrind-3.18.1 and LibVEX; rerun with -h for copyright info ==880062== ==880062== ==880062== HEAP SUMMARY: ==880062== in use at exit: 386,826 bytes in 696 blocks ==880062== total heap usage: 30,523 allocs, 29,827 frees, 21,803,756 bytes allocated ==880062== ==880062== LEAK SUMMARY: ==880062== definitely lost: 3,408 bytes in 3 blocks ==880062== indirectly lost: 88,885 bytes in 30 blocks ==880062== possibly lost: 140,944 bytes in 383 blocks ==880062== still reachable: 151,573 bytes in 259 blocks ==880062== suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==880062== Reachable blocks (those to which a pointer was found) are not shown. ==880062== To see them, rerun with: --leak-check=full --show-leak-kinds=all ==880062== ==880062== For lists of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -s ==880062== ERROR SUMMARY: 2 errors from 2 contexts (suppressed: 0 from 0) ```

CVE-2026-25637 Affected ImageMagick Versions

19 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
14.10.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x86
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-arm64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-x64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q16-x86
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-arm64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-x64
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3
Magick.NET-Q8-x86
NuGet
< 14.10.3
14.10.3

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-25637?
CVE-2026-25637 is a security vulnerability in ImageMagick involving Possible memory leak in ASHLAR encoder under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime.
Which ImageMagick versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 14.10.3 across affected packages: Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU, Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU, Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64, Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64, Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64, Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64, Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86, Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64, Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64, Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x86, Magick.NET-Q16-arm64, Magick.NET-Q16-x64, Magick.NET-Q16-x86, Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU, Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64, Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64, Magick.NET-Q8-arm64, Magick.NET-Q8-x64, Magick.NET-Q8-x86.
What version fixes CVE-2026-25637?
Upgrading to 14.10.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU affected?
Yes, Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU is affected in releases prior to 14.10.3. Upgrade your dependency to 14.10.3 or later.
Is Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU affected?
Yes, Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU is affected in releases prior to 14.10.3. Upgrade your dependency to 14.10.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-25637?
CVE-2026-25637 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-25637?
CVE-2026-25637 is classified under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime (The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.).
How can I check NuGet dependencies for CVE-2026-25637?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-gm37-qx7w-p258",
  "modified" : "2026-02-24T15:30:16Z",
  "published" : "2026-02-24T15:30:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-25637" ],
  "summary" : "ImageMagick: Possible memory leak in ASHLAR encoder",
  "details" : "A memory leak in the ASHLAR image writer allows an attacker to exhaust process memory by providing a crafted image that results in small objects that are allocated but never freed.\n\n```\n==880062== Memcheck, a memory error detector\n==880062== Copyright (C) 2002-2017, and GNU GPL'd, by Julian Seward et al.\n==880062== Using Valgrind-3.18.1 and LibVEX; rerun with -h for copyright info\n==880062== \n==880062== \n==880062== HEAP SUMMARY:\n==880062==     in use at exit: 386,826 bytes in 696 blocks\n==880062==   total heap usage: 30,523 allocs, 29,827 frees, 21,803,756 bytes allocated\n==880062== \n==880062== LEAK SUMMARY:\n==880062==    definitely lost: 3,408 bytes in 3 blocks\n==880062==    indirectly lost: 88,885 bytes in 30 blocks\n==880062==      possibly lost: 140,944 bytes in 383 blocks\n==880062==    still reachable: 151,573 bytes in 259 blocks\n==880062==         suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks\n==880062== Reachable blocks (those to which a pointer was found) are not shown.\n==880062== To see them, rerun with: --leak-check=full --show-leak-kinds=all\n==880062== \n==880062== For lists of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -s\n==880062== ERROR SUMMARY: 2 errors from 2 contexts (suppressed: 0 from 0)\n```",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-AnyCPU"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-AnyCPU"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-arm64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-OpenMP-x64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-arm64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-HDRI-x86"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-arm64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
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    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
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      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-OpenMP-x86"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q16-arm64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
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      "events" : [ {
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      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
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    },
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    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
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    },
    "ranges" : [ {
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      }, {
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    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q8-AnyCPU"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
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    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-arm64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
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        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q8-OpenMP-x64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q8-arm64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q8-x64"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "NuGet",
      "name" : "Magick.NET-Q8-x86"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "14.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/security/advisories/GHSA-gm37-qx7w-p258"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-25637"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/commit/30ce0e8efbd72fd6b50ed3a10ae22f57c8901137"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dlemstra/Magick.NET/releases/tag/14.10.3"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-401" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-02-24T15:30:16Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-02-24T01:16:13Z"
  }
}