CVE-2019-14869
A flaw was found in all versions of ghostscript 9.x before 9.50, where the `.charkeys` procedure, where it did not properly secure its privileged calls, enabling scripts to bypass `-dSAFER` restrictions.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (3.09%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
A flaw was found in all versions of ghostscript 9.x before 9.50, where the `.charkeys` procedure, where it did not properly secure its privileged calls, enabling scripts to bypass `-dSAFER` restrictions. An attacker could abuse this flaw by creating a specially crafted PostScript file that could escalate privileges within the Ghostscript and access files outside of restricted areas or execute commands.
- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 3.09% probability · 88th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-648, CWE-732
- Affected
- artifex/ghostscript · fedoraproject/fedora · opensuse/leap
- Source
- secalert@redhat.com
EPSS moved from 4.5% on 17 October 2026 to 3.1% on 27 October 2026.
References
- http://jvn.jp/en/jp/JVN52486659/index.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00049.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00050.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/11/15/1Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0222Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=701841Permissions Required
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2019-14869Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=485904772c5f
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2Q4E3OTDAJRSUCOBTDQO7Y5UTE2FFMLF/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HC4REO73BEJOJAU7NHFHJECAUAYJUE3H/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IX55AEDERTDFEZAROKZW64MZRPLINEGI/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Nov/27Issue Tracking, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://jvn.jp/en/jp/JVN52486659/index.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00049.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00050.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/11/15/1Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0222Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=701841Permissions Required
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2019-14869Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=485904772c5f
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2Q4E3OTDAJRSUCOBTDQO7Y5UTE2FFMLF/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HC4REO73BEJOJAU7NHFHJECAUAYJUE3H/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IX55AEDERTDFEZAROKZW64MZRPLINEGI/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Nov/27Issue Tracking, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.