CVE-2018-16509
Incorrect "restoration of privilege" checking during handling of /invalidaccess exceptions could be used by attackers able to supply crafted PostScript to execute code using the "pipe" instruction.
Does this matter?
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 92.5%, higher than 100% of all known CVEs. Patch or mitigate before the next change window.
Description
An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24. Incorrect "restoration of privilege" checking during handling of /invalidaccess exceptions could be used by attackers able to supply crafted PostScript to execute code using the "pipe" instruction.
- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 92.50% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 10 September 2018
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Affected
- debian/debian linux · artifex/ghostscript · canonical/ubuntu linux · redhat/enterprise linux desktop · redhat/enterprise linux server · redhat/enterprise linux server eus · redhat/enterprise linux workstation · artifex/gpl ghostscript
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS moved from 96.8% on 21 September 2026 to 92.5% on 27 October 2026. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”.
Public exploits (1)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=5516c614dc33662a2afdc377159f70218e67bde5
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=78911a01b67d590b4a91afac2e8417360b934156
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=79cccf641486a6595c43f1de1cd7ade696020a31
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=520bb0ea7519aa3e79db78aaf0589dae02103764
- http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2018/q3/142Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105122Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2918Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3760Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=699654Issue Tracking, Permissions Required, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00015.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-12Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3768-1/Third Party Advisory
- https://www.artifex.com/news/ghostscript-security-resolved/Vendor Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4294Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45369/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=5516c614dc33662a2afdc377159f70218e67bde5
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=78911a01b67d590b4a91afac2e8417360b934156
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=79cccf641486a6595c43f1de1cd7ade696020a31
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=520bb0ea7519aa3e79db78aaf0589dae02103764
- http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2018/q3/142Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105122Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2918Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3760Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=699654Issue Tracking, Permissions Required, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00015.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-12Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3768-1/Third Party Advisory
- https://www.artifex.com/news/ghostscript-security-resolved/Vendor Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4294Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45369/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.