Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
ImageMagick before 7.1.2-13 can mishandle memory when the BilateralBlur feature encounters an allocation failure. This may cause crashes and limited data integrity impact in systems that process images. The issue is patched in 7.1.2-13. Public sources do not show known active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate operational risk. Patch in normal vulnerability management cycles, faster for internet-facing or high-volume image-processing services. The main business concern is service disruption from crashes, not confirmed data theft or active exploitation.
Technical view
CVE-2026-22770 is a CWE-763 invalid pointer release in ImageMagick’s BilateralBlurImage path. AcquireBilateralTLS allocates double buffers, but versions before 7.1.2-13 do not properly initialize the last element. If allocation fails, DestroyBilateralTLS may release an invalid pointer. CVSS 3.1 is 6.5: network reachable, high complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where ImageMagick processes untrusted or externally supplied images, including web upload pipelines, media services, document conversion, and backend image processing jobs. Only ImageMagick versions before 7.1.2-13 are identified as affected in the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The CVSS vector indicates network attackability with high attack complexity and no required privileges or user interaction. The provided sources do not state active exploitation, proof-of-concept availability, or KEV listing. Practical risk depends on whether attackers can submit images that reach BilateralBlur processing and trigger memory allocation failure conditions.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record, GitHub advisory, and fixing commit. The issue is specifically tied to allocation-failure cleanup in BilateralBlur TLS handling. Avoid assuming broader ImageMagick components or older branches are affected unless confirmed by vendor data.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade ImageMagick to version 7.1.2-13 or later.
- Prioritize systems that process untrusted images or public uploads.
- If immediate upgrade is not possible, check ImageMagick vendor guidance for supported workarounds.
- Restrict untrusted image processing where business operations allow.
Validation and detection
- Inventory ImageMagick versions across servers, containers, and application dependencies.
- Confirm no production asset runs ImageMagick earlier than 7.1.2-13.
- Review image-processing workflows for BilateralBlur usage and untrusted input paths.
- Verify the patched version is present in built images and deployed runtimes.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-763: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-22770 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H2.24.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/security/advisories/GHSA-39h3-g67r-7g3cCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/commit/3e0330721020e0c5bb52e4b77c347527dd71658eCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference
Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.