ImageMagick's MSL: Stack overflow via infinite recursion in ProcessMSLScript

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ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Versions prior to 7.1.2-13 have a stack overflow via infinite recursion in MSL (Magick Scripting Language) `<write>` command when writing to MSL format. Version 7.1.2-13 fixes the issue.

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20 Jan 2026 00:52:52 UTC

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20 Jan 2026 21:43:48 UTC

Saved here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

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CVE Program Terms of Use

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CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Versions prior to 7.1.2-13 have a stack overflow via infinite recursion in MSL (Magick Scripting Language) `<write>` command when writing to MSL format. Version 7.1.2-13 fixes the issue.

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Jan 20, 2026, 12:52:52 AM (timezone not stated)

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Jan 20, 2026, 9:43:48 PM (timezone not stated)

Saved here

13 Nov 2026 15:58:58 UTC

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ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply

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EUVD CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

ImageMagick is free and open-source software used for editing and manipulating digital images. Versions prior to 7.1.2-13 have a stack overflow via infinite recursion in MSL (Magick Scripting Language) `<write>` command when writing to MSL format. Version 7.1.2-13 fixes the issue.

Source published

20 Jan 2026 01:15:57 UTC

Source modified

17 Jun 2026 10:22:14 UTC

Saved here

25 Oct 2026 05:17:36 UTC

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NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained

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CVSS 3.1 · [email protected] · Secondary · 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

## Summary Stack overflow via infinite recursion in MSL (Magick Scripting Language) `<write>` command when writing to MSL format. ## Version - ImageMagick 7.x (tested on current main branch) - Commit: HEAD - Requires: libxml2 support (for MSL parsing) ## Steps to Reproduce ### Method 1: Using ImageMagick directly ```bash magick MSL:recursive.msl out.png ``` ### Method 2: Using OSS-Fuzz reproduce ```bash python3 infra/helper.py build_fuzzers imagemagick python3 infra/helper.py reproduce imagemagick msl_fuzzer recursive.msl ``` Or run the fuzzer directly: ```bash ./msl_fuzzer recursive.msl ``` ## Expected Behavior ImageMagick should handle recursive MSL references gracefully by detecting the loop and returning an error. ## Actual Behavior Stack overflow causes process crash: ``` AddressSanitizer:DEADLYSIGNAL ==PID==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: stack-overflow #0 MSLStartElement /src/imagemagick/coders/msl.c:7045 #1 xmlParseStartTag /src/libxml2/parser.c #2 xmlParseChunk /src/libxml2/parser.c:11273 #3 ProcessMSLScript /src/imagemagick/coders/msl.c:7405 #4 WriteMSLImage /src/imagemagick/coders/msl.c:7867 #5 WriteImage /src/imagemagick/MagickCore/constitute.c:1346 #6 MSLStartElement /src/imagemagick/coders/msl.c:7045 ... (infinite recursion, 287+ frames) ``` ## Root Cause Analysis In `coders/msl.c`, the `<write>` command handler in `MSLStartElement()` (line ~7045) calls `WriteImage()`. When the output filename specifies MSL format (`msl:filename`), `WriteMSLImage()` is called, which parses the MSL file again via `ProcessMSLScript()`. If the MSL file references itself (directly or indirectly), this creates an infinite recursion loop: ``` MSLStartElement() → WriteImage() → WriteMSLImage() → ProcessMSLScript() → xmlParseChunk() → MSLStartElement() → ... (infinite loop) ``` ## Impact - **DoS**: Guaranteed crash via stack exhaustion - **Affected**: Any application using ImageMagick to process user-supplied MSL files ## Additional Trigger Paths The `<read>` command can also trigger recursion: Indirect recursion is also possible (a.msl → b.msl → a.msl). ## Fuzzer This issue was discovered using a custom MSL fuzzer: ```cpp #include <cstdint> #include <Magick++/Blob.h> #include <Magick++/Image.h> #include "utils.cc" extern "C" int LLVMFuzzerTestOneInput(const uint8_t *Data, size_t Size) { if (IsInvalidSize(Size)) return(0); try { const Magick::Blob blob(Data, Size); Magick::Image image; image.magick("MSL"); image.fileName("MSL:"); image.read(blob); } catch (Magick::Exception) { } return(0); } ``` This issue was found by Team FuzzingBrain @ Texas A&M University

Source published

21 Jan 2026 01:05:23 UTC

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10 Sep 2026 03:50:36 UTC

Saved here

23 Oct 2026 16:01:25 UTC

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GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

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CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Publisher rating · MODERATE