Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
ImageMagick’s bundled secure policy was meant to block access to standard input and output, but older versions missed an alternate file descriptor naming path. Organizations using that policy as a security boundary could have limited confidentiality, integrity, or availability exposure if ImageMagick handles attacker-controlled inputs or workflows.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate-priority hardening issue. Patch during the next security maintenance window, sooner for internet-facing or multi-tenant image processing services that rely on ImageMagick’s secure policy controls.
Technical view
Before ImageMagick 7.1.2-15 and 6.9.13-40, secure policy templates did not block fd:<n> pseudo-filenames, bypassing the intended no-stdin/stdout restriction. The CVE is rated CVSS 5.9 with local attack vector and low confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where ImageMagick is installed before the fixed versions and configured with the shipped secure policy to restrict standard stream access. Risk is higher in conversion services, automation, or upload pipelines that process untrusted image-related input.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not report active exploitation, and KEV status is false. The issue is a policy bypass, not evidence of broad remote compromise. Real risk depends on whether local or application-mediated ImageMagick usage allows attacker influence over input paths or processing behavior.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a CWE-284 security policy bypass involving fd pseudo-filenames. The source bundle names affected version ranges, fixed versions, CVSS vector, and workaround direction, but does not provide exploitation telemetry or broader product impact beyond ImageMagick.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade ImageMagick to 7.1.2-15, 6.9.13-40, or later.
- Apply the vendor-described manual security policy change if immediate upgrade is unavailable.
- Review ImageMagick security advisory GHSA-xwc6-v6g8-pw2h for exact vendor guidance.
- Prioritize systems processing untrusted uploads, batch jobs, or user-supplied image operations.
Validation and detection
- Inventory deployed ImageMagick versions across servers, containers, and build images.
- Confirm versions are at least 7.1.2-15 or 6.9.13-40.
- Review security policy files for the vendor change blocking file descriptor stream access.
- Identify workflows that rely on the secure policy to prevent stdin/stdout access.
- Check whether applications pass user-controlled inputs into ImageMagick operations.
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
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-284: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-25966 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.9 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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.
SSVC decision data
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:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L2.53.4GitHub_MVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.9MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/security/advisories/GHSA-xwc6-v6g8-pw2hCVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_CONFIRM
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.
Improper Access Control
Improper Access Control represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.