CVE-2018-17961
Artifex Ghostscript 9.25 and earlier allows attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via vectors involving errorhandler setup.
Does this matter?
A public exploit is published in Exploit-DB (verified) and the impact is high, while EPSS rates exploitation at 10.0%. Anyone can run this; patch or mitigate before the next change window and check exposed instances for signs of use.
Description
Artifex Ghostscript 9.25 and earlier allows attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via vectors involving errorhandler setup. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2018-17183.
- CVSS 3.0
- 8.6 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 9.98% probability · 96th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 9 October 2018
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-209
- Affected
- artifex/ghostscript · debian/debian linux · canonical/ubuntu linux · redhat/enterprise linux desktop · redhat/enterprise linux server · redhat/enterprise linux server aus · redhat/enterprise linux server eus · redhat/enterprise linux server tus · redhat/enterprise linux workstation
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS moved from 17.9% on 21 September 2026 to 10.0% 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=commitdiff%3Bh=a54c9e61e7d0
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=a5a9bf8c6a63
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=a6807394bd94
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/10/09/4Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3834Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1682&desc=2Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=699816Permissions Required, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/10/msg00013.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3803-1/Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4336Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45573/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=a54c9e61e7d0
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=a5a9bf8c6a63
- http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=a6807394bd94
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/10/09/4Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3834Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1682&desc=2Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=699816Permissions Required, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/10/msg00013.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3803-1/Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4336Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45573/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.