ImageMagick CLAHE : Unsigned underflow and division-by-zero lead to OOB pointer arithmetic and process crash (DoS)
Published October 27, 2025Updated May 9, 2026Source: osv
Summary
## Summary
A single root cause in the CLAHE implementation — tile width/height becoming zero — produces two distinct but related unsafe behaviors.
Vulnerabilities exists in the `CLAHEImage()` function of ImageMagick’s `MagickCore/enhance.c`.
1. Unsigned integer underflow → out-of-bounds pointer arithmetic (OOB): when `tile_info.height == 0`, the expression `tile_info.height - 1` (unsigned) wraps to a very large value; using that value in pointer arithmetic yields a huge offset and OOB memory access (leading to memory corruption, SIGSEGV, or resource exhaustion).
2. **Division/modulus by zero**: where code performs `... / tile_info.width` or `... % tile_info.height` without re-checking for zero, causing immediate division-by-zero crashes under sanitizers or `abort` at runtime.
Both behaviors are triggered by the same invalid tile condition (e.g., CLI exact `-clahe 0x0!` or automatic tile derivation `dim >> 3 == 0` for very small images).
---
## Details
### **Unsigned underflow(can lea to OOB)**
- Location: `MagickCore/enhance.c`, around line 609
- Version tested: 7.1.2-8 (local ASan(undefined). /UBSan build)
- Vulnerable code
enhance.c: 609
```c
p += (ptrdiff_t) clahe_info->width * (tile.height - 1);
```
- Root Cause
- If `tile.height == 0`, then `(tile.height - 1)` underflows to `UINT_MAX`.
- Multiplication with `clahe_info->width` yields a huge value close to `SIZE_MAX`.
- Adding this to `p` causes pointer arithmetic underflow.
### **Division-by-zero**
- File / Location: `MagickCore/enhance.c`, around line 669
- Version tested: 7.1.2-8 (local ASan(undefined). /UBSan build)
- vulnerable code
enhance.c: 669-673
```c
if ((image->columns % tile_info.width) != 0)
tile_info.x=(ssize_t) (tile_info.width-(image->columns % tile_info.width));
tile_info.y=0;
if ((image->rows % tile_info.height) != 0)
tile_info.y=(ssize_t) (tile_info.height-(image->rows % tile_info.height));
```
- Root cause
Missing input validation / bounds checks after computing default tile dimensions:
If either `tile_info.width` or `tile_info.height` is 0, this triggers a division by zero. Zeros can reach this point through:
1. Exact tiles: CLI `clahe 0x0!` (the `!` forces zero to be used verbatim).
2. Auto tiles on tiny images: When a requested tile is `0` (no `!`), the code derives a default from the image size (e.g., `dim >> 3`). For images with `dim < 8`, this result is 0 unless clamped.
---
## Reproduction
### **Unsigned underflow**
**Environment**
Built with AddressSanitizer and UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer enabled.
```c
export UBSAN_OPTIONS=print_stacktrace=1:halt_on_error=1
export ASAN_OPTIONS=abort_on_error=1:allocator_may_return_null=1:detect_leaks=0
```
**Command**
```bash
./magick xc:black -clahe 0x0 null:
```
**Output**
```
MagickCore/enhance.c:609:6: runtime error: addition of unsigned offset overflowed
SUMMARY: UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer: undefined-behavior MagickCore/enhance.c:609:6 in CLAHEImage
```
`./magick -size 10x10 xc:black -clahe 0x0 null:`
<img width="1068" height="64" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cd9637ee-1d03-4066-834d-fda22410dd8b" />
memory region corruption.
`./magick -size 2000x2000 xc:black -clahe 0x0 null:`
<img width="1069" height="70" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ecbab79c-a3c2-4e8c-96c9-8e2aa8f0d2b2" />
→ Significant memory consumption and evidence of memory region corruption.
`./magick -size 4000x4000 xc:black -clahe 0x0 null:`
<img width="776" height="49" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/63a7cec5-616b-4aa5-87f3-a546a87e6625" />
→ Much larger memory usage; process appears to be aggressively consuming cache and address space.
`./magick -size 8000x8000 xc:black -clahe 0x0 null:`
<img width="748" height="46" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/48b3aac8-98b3-4fbb-a5ca-4e7936bca44b" />
→ Memory usage escalates further and begins exhausting available cache. If left running, the process is likely to crash (DoS) after sustained allocation attempts.
### **Division-by-zero**
**Environment:** ASan/UBSan-enabled build.
```c
export UBSAN_OPTIONS=print_stacktrace=1:halt_on_error=1
export ASAN_OPTIONS=abort_on_error=1:allocator_may_return_null=1:detect_leaks=0
```
**Command**
```bash
./magick -size 16x2 gradient: -type TrueColor -depth 8 -clahe 0x0! null:
```
**Output**
<img width="1915" height="818" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cfe44432-b429-49e4-8673-2ed55ba9a961" />
**Notes:** Without sanitizers, the process may terminate with just `Aborted` (still DoS).
---
## Impact
- Primary: Denial-of-Service — crash or sustained resource exhaustion (memory/cache thrash) when processing crafted parameters or small images via CLI or API. Attackers can trivially trigger via `clahe 0x0!` or by uploading very small images to services using ImageMagick.
- Secondary (theoretical): OOB memory accesses and memory corruption could potentially be combined with other vulnerabilities to achieve more severe outcomes; however, no reliable code execution was demonstrated from these PoCs alone.
---
## Suggested concrete patch snippets
Apply in `CLAHEImage()` after `tile_info` is computed but **before** any division/modulus/pointer arithmetic:
```c
if (exact_tiles_requested && (tile_info.width == 0 || tile_info.height == 0)) {
ThrowMagickException(exception, GetMagickModule(), OptionError,
"CLAHEInvalidTile", "%lux%lu",
(unsigned long) tile_info.width,
(unsigned long) tile_info.height);
return (Image *) NULL;
}
if (!exact_tiles_requested) {
tile_info.width = (tile_info.width == 0) ? MagickMax((size_t)1, image->columns >> 3) : tile_info.width;
tile_info.height = (tile_info.height == 0) ? MagickMax((size_t)1, image->rows >> 3) : tile_info.height;
}
if (tile_info.width == 0 || tile_info.height == 0) {
ThrowMagickException(exception, GetMagickModule(), OptionError,
"CLAHEInvalidTile", "%lux%lu",
(unsigned long) tile_info.width,
(unsigned long) tile_info.height);
return (Image *) NULL;
}
ssize_t tile_h_minus1 = (ssize_t)tile_info.height - 1;
if (tile_h_minus1 < 0) {
ThrowMagickException(exception, GetMagickModule(), OptionError,
"CLAHEInvalidTile", "%lux%lu",
(unsigned long) tile_info.width,
(unsigned long) tile_info.height);
return (Image *) NULL;
}
p += (ptrdiff_t) clahe_info->width * tile_h_minus1;
```
Notes about `exact_tiles_requested`: if the CLI/Wand parser already exposes whether `!` was present, use it. If not, add a parse-time flag so CLAHEImage can know whether `0` is literal or auto.
---
## Credit
### Team Whys
**Bug Hunting Master Program, HSpace/Findthegap**
**Youngmin Kim**
kunshim@naver.com
**Woojin Park**
[@jin-156](https://github.com/jin-156)
[1203kids@gmail.com](mailto:1203kids@gmail.com)
**Youngin Won**
[@amethyst0225](https://github.com/amethyst0225)
[youngin04@korea.ac.kr](mailto:youngin04@korea.ac.kr)
**Siyeon Han**
[@hanbunny](https://github.com/hanbunny)
[kokosyeon@gmail.com](mailto:kokosyeon@gmail.com)
**Shinyoung Won**
[@yosiimich](yosimich123@gmail.com)
[yosimich123@gmail.com](mailto:yosimich123@gmail.com)
ImageMagick CLAHE : Unsigned underflow and division-by-zero lead to OOB pointer arithmetic and process crash (DoS) This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of MEDIUM (CVSS score: 4.7/10).
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Severity & Exploitability
CVSS Score
4.7
Exploitation requires specific conditions or has limited impact. Remediate within weeks.