# CVE-2020-27753: Denial of service in ImageMagick

> Attackers can cause denial of service via memory leaks in the MIFF coder by providing a specially crafted image file to applications using ImageMagick.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 Dec 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-27753, GHSA-m43q-5c9p-x5fh, JLSEC-2026-851, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-27753

## What is CVE-2020-27753?

CVE-2020-27753 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Imagemagick Imagemagick, published on 8 Dec 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

There are several memory leaks in the MIFF coder in /coders/miff.c due to improper image depth values, which can be triggered by a specially crafted input file. These leaks could potentially lead to an impact to application availability or cause a denial of service. It was originally reported that the issues were in `AcquireMagickMemory()` because that is where LeakSanitizer detected the leaks, but the patch resolves issues in the MIFF coder, which incorrectly handles data being passed to `AcquireMagickMemory()`. This flaw affects ImageMagick versions prior to 7.0.9-0.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-27753?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Imagemagick Imagemagick.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-27753?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2020-27753 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-27753 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Imagemagick Imagemagick

- [CVE-2019-19952](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19952/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-16328](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16328/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-16329](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16329/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-18210](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-18210/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-14138](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14138/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-27753 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-27753 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Imagemagick Imagemagick, published on 8 Dec 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-27753 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Imagemagick Imagemagick. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27753/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27753/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-27753
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-27753
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-27753

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27753/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.