📄 Description (English)
ImageMagick Improper Input Validation Vulnerability — ImageMagick contains an improper input validation vulnerability that affects the EPHEMERAL, HTTPS, MVG, MSL, TEXT, SHOW, WIN, and PLT coders. This allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code via shell metacharacters in a crafted image.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2016-3714, known as 'ImageTragick,' is a critical improper input validation vulnerability in ImageMagick that allows remote code execution through shell metacharacters embedded in crafted image files. With a CVSS score of 9.0 and publicly available exploits, this vulnerability has been actively exploited in the wild. The flaw affects multiple ImageMagick coders (EPHEMERAL, HTTPS, MVG, MSL, TEXT, SHOW, WIN, PLT) and can be triggered simply by processing a malicious image file. Organizations running web applications that process user-uploaded images using ImageMagick are at immediate risk.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 5, 2026 17:05
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi organizations across multiple sectors. Government portals (NCA-regulated) and banking platforms (SAMA-regulated) that accept image uploads for identity verification, document processing, or customer services are highly exposed. Saudi e-commerce platforms, healthcare systems processing medical images, and educational institutions using content management systems with ImageMagick are also at risk. Energy sector organizations including ARAMCO and utility companies running internal web applications with image processing capabilities could be compromised. Telecom providers like STC, Mobily, and Zain that operate customer-facing portals with image upload functionality are vulnerable. Given that ImageMagick is widely embedded in PHP, Python, Ruby, and Node.js web frameworks commonly used across Saudi digital transformation initiatives (Vision 2030), the attack surface is broad.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government
Banking
Healthcare
Energy
Telecommunications
E-Commerce
Education
Media
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Identify all systems running ImageMagick by scanning for 'convert', 'identify', 'mogrify', and related binaries across all servers.
2. Update ImageMagick to version 6.9.3-10 or 7.0.1-1 or later immediately.
3. If immediate patching is not possible, implement the following compensating controls:
a. Create/edit the ImageMagick policy.xml file (typically at /etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml) to disable vulnerable coders:
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="EPHEMERAL" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="URL" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="HTTPS" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="MVG" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="MSL" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="TEXT" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="SHOW" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="WIN" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="PLT" />
4. Validate all uploaded image files by checking magic bytes before passing to ImageMagick.
5. Consider replacing ImageMagick with safer alternatives like libvips or Pillow where possible.
Detection Rules:
- Monitor for unusual process spawning from ImageMagick binaries (convert, mogrify, identify).
- Deploy WAF rules to inspect uploaded files for MVG/MSL content containing shell metacharacters.
- Monitor for Snort/Suricata signatures related to ImageTragick exploitation.
- Check web server logs for unusual image upload patterns followed by command execution indicators.
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع الأنظمة التي تشغل ImageMagick عن طريق البحث عن ملفات 'convert' و'identify' و'mogrify' والملفات التنفيذية ذات الصلة عبر جميع الخوادم.
2. تحديث ImageMagick إلى الإصدار 6.9.3-10 أو 7.0.1-1 أو أحدث فوراً.
3. إذا لم يكن التحديث الفوري ممكناً، قم بتطبيق الضوابط التعويضية التالية:
أ. إنشاء/تعديل ملف policy.xml الخاص بـ ImageMagick لتعطيل المُشفرات المعرضة للخطر:
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="EPHEMERAL" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="URL" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="HTTPS" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="MVG" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="MSL" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="TEXT" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="SHOW" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="WIN" />
<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="PLT" />
4. التحقق من صحة جميع ملفات الصور المرفوعة عن طريق فحص البايتات السحرية قبل تمريرها إلى ImageMagick.
5. النظر في استبدال ImageMagick ببدائل أكثر أماناً مثل libvips أو Pillow حيثما أمكن.
قواعد الكشف:
- مراقبة إنشاء العمليات غير المعتادة من ملفات ImageMagick التنفيذية.
- نشر قواعد جدار حماية تطبيقات الويب لفحص الملفات المرفوعة بحثاً عن محتوى MVG/MSL يحتوي على أحرف خاصة بالصدفة.
- مراقبة توقيعات Snort/Suricata المتعلقة باستغلال ImageTragick.
- فحص سجلات خادم الويب بحثاً عن أنماط رفع صور غير عادية متبوعة بمؤشرات تنفيذ أوامر.
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2-3-1 (Vulnerability Management)
ECC 2-5-1 (Secure Software Development)
ECC 2-2-1 (Asset Management)
ECC 2-6-1 (Web Application Security)
ECC 2-3-4 (Patch Management)
🔵 SAMA CSF
3.3.3 (Patch Management)
3.3.5 (Vulnerability Management)
3.4.1 (Secure Application Development)
3.3.7 (Security Event Monitoring)
3.4.8 (Web Application Security)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.8.8 (Management of Technical Vulnerabilities)
A.8.28 (Secure Coding)
A.8.9 (Configuration Management)
A.8.16 (Monitoring Activities)
A.8.25 (Secure Development Life Cycle)
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
6.3.3 (Identify and manage security vulnerabilities)
6.2.4 (Software engineering techniques to prevent exploitation)
6.4.1 (Public-facing web applications protection)
11.3.1 (Internal vulnerability scans)
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
ImageMagick:ImageMagick