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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2016-3715 ImageMagick CVE debrief

CVE-2016-3715 is a CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability affecting ImageMagick. The supplied corpus describes it as an arbitrary file deletion issue. Because CISA lists it in KEV, defenders should treat it as a high-priority remediation item and follow vendor update guidance.

Vendor
ImageMagick
Product
ImageMagick
CVSS
Unknown
CISA KEV
Listed
Original CVE published
2021-11-03
Original CVE updated
2021-11-03
Advisory published
2021-11-03
Advisory updated
2021-11-03

Who should care

Security teams, platform operators, and application owners running ImageMagick directly or through dependent services and workflows.

Technical summary

The official records in the supplied corpus identify the flaw at a high level as an ImageMagick arbitrary file deletion vulnerability. The corpus does not provide affected version ranges, attack preconditions, or a CVSS score. From a defensive perspective, the safest response is to inventory all ImageMagick deployments, apply vendor updates, and ensure systems that process untrusted content are covered by patching and hardening controls.

Defensive priority

Urgent

Recommended defensive actions

  • Inventory all systems and applications that include or depend on ImageMagick.
  • Apply vendor-recommended updates as soon as practical.
  • Reduce exposure of services that accept untrusted input and use ImageMagick.
  • Monitor for unexpected file deletion activity, application errors, or integrity issues on affected hosts.
  • Track remediation against internal vulnerability SLAs and CISA KEV obligations.

Evidence notes

CISA’s KEV catalog entry names this issue as "ImageMagick Arbitrary File Deletion Vulnerability" and states: "Apply updates per vendor instructions." The supplied corpus also includes official CVE and NVD references, but it does not include version-specific impact details or severity scoring. Timeline context provided with the source item is 2021-11-03, with a KEV due date of 2022-05-03.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2016-3715 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-3715

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2016-3715 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-3715

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

  • CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

    Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency - Official CISA catalog of vulnerabilities known to be exploited in the wild.

Supplemental references

  • Source item URL

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json

    cisa_kev

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.