Skip to main content
veriom
Menu

Explore Veriom products, resources, and account pages.

CVE-2016-3715ImageMagick Arbitrary File Deletion Vulnerability

Patch nowMedium5.5Exploited, CISA due date 2022-05-03EPSS 75%, higher than 100% of scored CVEs

CVE-2016-3715 is a files accessible to external parties in ImageMagick, rated medium (5.5 on CVSS 3.1).

Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.

Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed

What it is

Files or folders that should be private can be fetched from outside.

How it is reached

An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, without an account, but someone has to act first, such as opening a file or following a link.

What an attacker gains

A successful attack can change data or behaviour. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker learn data or internals that help a follow-up attack.

Is it being exploited?

CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 75% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 100% of scored CVEs.

What to do

  1. Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2022-05-03.
  2. Apply the fix for ImageMagick: the patch and release notes are linked below.
  3. Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
  4. Warn the people who use it, and filter files and links on the way in.
  5. Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.

Description from NVD

The EPHEMERAL coder in ImageMagick before 6.9.3-10 and 7.x before 7.0.1-1 allows remote attackers to delete arbitrary files via a crafted image.

What this means for your architecture.

A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.

Components it touches

  • Operating systems on servers, workstations or devices. Everything on the host inherits the flaw.
  • Error responses, logs and debug endpoints. The flaw sits between internal data and whoever can read the response or log.
  • APIs that over-share. The flaw sits between internal data and whoever can read the response or log.

Trust boundaries in play

  • Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
  • People who open files and links. Mail, chat and browsers are the delivery path.
  • Between internal data and whoever can read the response or log. An attacker who crosses it can learn data or internals that help a follow-up attack.

Questions to answer about your own systems

  • Where does ImageMagick run in your systems, and at which version?
  • Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
  • What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
See how Veriom maps an architectureTake the interactive tour

Read more

Sources

  • CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
  • Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
  • Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
  • Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.