Skip to content

Undefined Behavior (function-type-mismatch) in CloneSplayTree

Moderate
urban-warrior published GHSA-6hgw-6x87-578x Aug 13, 2025

Package

ImageMagick (C/C++)

Affected versions

< 7.1.2-1
< 6.9.13-27

Patched versions

7.1.2-1
6.9.13-27

Description

Title: Undefined behavior (function-type-mismatch) in CloneSplayTree via MagickCoalesceImages

Summary

  • Target: ImageMagick (commit ecc9a5eb456747374bae8e07038ba10b3d8821b3)
  • Type: Undefined Behavior (function-type-mismatch) in splay tree cloning callback
  • Impact: Deterministic abort under UBSan (DoS in sanitizer builds). No crash in a non-sanitized build; likely low security impact.
  • Trigger: Minimal 2-byte input parsed via MagickWand, then coalescing.

Environment

OS: macOS (Apple Silicon/arm64)
Homebrew clang version 20.1.8
Target: arm64-apple-darwin24.5.0
Thread model: posix
InstalledDir: /opt/homebrew/Cellar/llvm/20.1.8/bin
Configuration file: /opt/homebrew/etc/clang/arm64-apple-darwin24.cfg
Homebrew ImageMagick: magick -versionImageMagick 7.1.2-0 Q16-HDRI aarch64
pkg-config: MagickWand-7.Q16HDRI version 7.1.2
Library configure flags (capsule build):
./configure --disable-shared --enable-static --without-modules --without-magick-plus-plus --disable-openmp --without-perl --without-x --with-png=yes --without-jpeg --without-tiff --without-xml --without-lqr --without-gslib
Harness compile flags:
-fsanitize=fuzzer,address,undefined -fno-omit-frame-pointer
pkg-config cflags/libs supplied:
-I<...>/include/ImageMagick-7
-DMAGICKCORE_HDRI_ENABLE=1 -DMAGICKCORE_QUANTUM_DEPTH=16 -DMAGICKCORE_CHANNEL_MASK_DEPTH=32
and linked against MagickWand-7.Q16HDRI and MagickCore-7.Q16HDRI
Sanitizer runtime:
ASan+UBSan defaults. Repro also with UBSAN_OPTIONS=print_stacktrace=1:halt_on_error=1

PoC

  • Bytes (hex): 1c 02
  • Base64: HAI=
  • sha256 (optional):

Reproduction

Create PoC:

printf '\x1c\x02' > poc.bin

Option A: libFuzzer harness

  • Run once: ./harness_ImageMagick_... -runs=1 ./poc.bin
  • Expected: UBSan aborts with function-type-mismatch at MagickCore/splay-tree.c:372:43.

Option B: standalone reproducer (C)

  • Compile (ensure PKG_CONFIG_PATH points to your ImageMagick if needed):

/opt/homebrew/opt/llvm/bin/clang -g -O1 -fsanitize=address,undefined $(/opt/homebrew/bin/pkg-config --cflags MagickWand-7.Q16HDRI) repro.c -o repro $(/opt/homebrew/bin/pkg-config --libs MagickWand-7.Q16HDRI)

  • Run:

UBSAN_OPTIONS=print_stacktrace=1:halt_on_error=1 ./repro ./poc.bin
Observed output (excerpt)
MagickCore/splay-tree.c:372:43: runtime error: call to function ConstantString through pointer to incorrect function type 'void ()(void *)'
string.c:680: note: ConstantString defined here
#0 CloneSplayTree splay-tree.c:372
#1 CloneImageProfiles profile.c:159
#2 CloneImage image.c:832
#3 CoalesceImages layer.c:269
#4 MagickCoalesceImages magick-image.c:1665
#5 main repro.c:XX
Root cause
The splay tree clone callback expects a function pointer of type void *(*)(void *). ConstantString has a different signature (char *ConstantString(const char *)). Calling through the mismatched function type is undefined behavior in C and triggers UBSan’s function-type-mismatch.
The path is exercised during coalescing: CloneImage → CloneImageProfiles → CloneSplayTree.
Scope
Reproduces with a minimal, sanitizer-instrumented, PNG-enabled build and delegates disabled (policy.xml), suggesting the issue is in MagickCore rather than external delegates.
Suggested fix (sketch)
Use a wrapper that matches the expected callback prototype, or adjust the splay-tree callback typedef for const-correctness. For example:
static void *CloneStringShim(const void *p) {
return (void *) ConstantString((const char *) p);
}

/* When setting splay-tree clone_value, use CloneStringShim instead of ConstantString. */

Alternatively, update the clone callback typedefs to use const void* consistently (and return void*) and ensure callers pass a correctly typed wrapper.

Artifacts
Minimised PoC: attached (poc.bin, 2 bytes; base64 HAI=)
Harness source and exact build command (attached)
Full UBSan trace (attached)
Commit SHA and configure flags (above)
Credits
Discovered by: Lumina Mescuwa
Method: libFuzzer + UBSan
Verification

  • UBSan build: Reproduces with halt_on_error=1; aborts at MagickCore/splay-tree.c:372.
  • Non-sanitized Homebrew build (macOS arm64, clang 20.1.8): No crash; repro completes silently.

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

CVE ID

CVE-2025-55160

Weaknesses

Reliance on Undefined, Unspecified, or Implementation-Defined Behavior

The product uses an API function, data structure, or other entity in a way that relies on properties that are not always guaranteed to hold for that entity. Learn more on MITRE.

Credits