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CVE-2018-16541· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

In Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24, attackers able to supply crafted PostScript files could use incorrect free logic in pagedevice replaceme

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 22/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.4% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 72.1% of all records.
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: ghostscript (Debian:12) 9.22~dfsg-3; ghostscript (Debian:8) 9.06~dfsg-2+deb8u8; ghostscript (Debian:9) 9.20~dfsg-3.2+deb9u4.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to ghostscript (Debian:12) 9.22~dfsg-3; ghostscript (Debian:8) 9.06~dfsg-2+deb8u8; ghostscript (Debian:9) 9.20~dfsg-3.2+deb9u4 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

In Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24, attackers able to supply crafted PostScript files could use incorrect free logic in pagedevice replacement to crash the interpreter.

MediumCVSS 5.5 · v3.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Sep 5, 2018
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.4% · 72th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

22

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
22 / 40 · 5.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.4%

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  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
artifexghostscript
canonicalubuntu linux
debiandebian linux
redhatenterprise linux desktop
redhatenterprise linux server
redhatenterprise linux server aus
redhatenterprise linux server eus
redhatenterprise linux server tus
redhatenterprise linux workstation

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • artifex ghostscriptbefore 9.24
  • canonical ubuntu linux14.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux16.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux18.04
  • debian debian linux8.0
  • debian debian linux9.0
  • redhat enterprise linux desktop7.0
  • redhat enterprise linux server7.0
  • redhat enterprise linux server aus7.6
  • redhat enterprise linux server eus7.6
  • redhat enterprise linux server tus7.6
  • redhat enterprise linux workstation7.0

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12ghostscriptbefore 9.22~dfsg-39.22~dfsg-3
Debian:8ghostscriptbefore 9.06~dfsg-2+deb8u89.06~dfsg-2+deb8u8
Debian:9ghostscriptbefore 9.20~dfsg-3.2+deb9u49.20~dfsg-3.2+deb9u4
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientghostscriptbefore 0:9.07-31.el7_6.60:9.07-31.el7_6.6
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientghostscript-cupsbefore 0:9.07-31.el7_6.60:9.07-31.el7_6.6
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientghostscript-debuginfobefore 0:9.07-31.el7_6.60:9.07-31.el7_6.6
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientghostscript-develbefore 0:9.07-31.el7_6.60:9.07-31.el7_6.6
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientghostscript-docbefore 0:9.07-31.el7_6.60:9.07-31.el7_6.6
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientghostscript-gtkbefore 0:9.07-31.el7_6.60:9.07-31.el7_6.6
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15ghostscriptbefore 9.25-3.6.19.25-3.6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15libspectrebefore 0.2.8-3.2.10.2.8-3.2.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4ghostscript-librarybefore 8.62-32.47.13.18.62-32.47.13.1
SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 7ghostscriptbefore 9.25-23.13.19.25-23.13.1

Same product

artifex: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2017-8291Artifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 allows -dSAFER bypass and remote command execution via .rsdparams type confusion with a "/OutputFile KEV
    90Now
  • CVE-2021-3781A trivial sandbox (enabled with the `-dSAFER` option) escape flaw was found in the ghostscript interpreter by injecting a specially crafted
    64This week
  • CVE-2018-16509An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24.
    59Plan
  • CVE-2019-6116In Artifex Ghostscript through 9.26, ephemeral or transient procedures can allow access to system operators, leading to remote code executio
    43Plan
  • CVE-2019-14813A flaw was found in ghostscript, versions 9.x before 9.50, in the setsystemparams procedure where it did not properly secure its privileged
    42Plan
  • CVE-2016-7976The PS Interpreter in Ghostscript 9.18 and 9.20 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted userparams.
    42Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:ghostscript9.22~dfsg-3 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
red hat:ghostscript0:9.07-31.el7_6.6 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:ghostscript-cups0:9.07-31.el7_6.6 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:ghostscript-debuginfo0:9.07-31.el7_6.6 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:ghostscript-devel0:9.07-31.el7_6.6 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:ghostscript-doc0:9.07-31.el7_6.6 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:ghostscript-gtk0:9.07-31.el7_6.6 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::clientPackage registry (OSV)
suse:ghostscript9.25-23.13.1 · SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 7Package registry (OSV)
suse:ghostscript-library8.62-32.47.13.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4Package registry (OSV)
suse:libspectre0.2.8-3.2.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

c
free(dev->buf);/* ... another thread is still running ... */process(dev->buf);

Fixed

c
lock(&dev->lock);free(dev->buf);dev->buf = NULL;unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (7 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records