Ghostscript up to 9.27 .pdfexectoken PostScript File access control

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.7$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Ghostscript up to 9.27. The affected element is the function .pdfexectoken. Executing a manipulation as part of PostScript File can lead to access control. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2019-14817. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists. A patch should be applied to remediate this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Ghostscript up to 9.27 (Document Processing Software). This vulnerability affects the function .pdfexectoken. The manipulation as part of a PostScript File leads to a access control vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-264. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

A flaw was found in, ghostscript versions prior to 9.28, in the .pdfexectoken and other procedures where it did not properly secure its privileged calls, enabling scripts to bypass `-dSAFER` restrictions. A specially crafted PostScript file could disable security protection and then have access to the file system, or execute arbitrary commands.

The weakness was disclosed 09/03/2019 as confirmed git commit (GIT Repository). The advisory is available at git.ghostscript.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2019-14817 since 08/10/2019. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. This vulnerability is assigned to T1068 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 240001 (TencentOS Server 3: ghostscript (TSSA-2022:0123)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 9.28 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.ghostscript.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be patching the affected component.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (240001). The entry VDB-141201 is pretty similar. If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

Name

Version

License

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.7

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.1
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 7.3
CNA Vector (Red Hat, Inc.): 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Access control
CWE: CWE-264
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 240001
Nessus Name: TencentOS Server 3: ghostscript (TSSA-2022:0123)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Ghostscript 9.28
Patch: cd1b1cacadac2479e291efe611979bdc1b3bdb19

Timelineinfo

08/10/2019 🔍
09/03/2019 +24 days 🔍
09/04/2019 +1 days 🔍
06/17/2025 +2113 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: RHSA-2019:2594
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2019-14817 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2019-14817
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-141202
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 09/04/2019 07:22
Updated: 06/17/2025 16:23
Changes: 09/04/2019 07:22 (60), 08/12/2020 09:05 (1), 12/11/2023 11:51 (5), 12/11/2023 11:58 (12), 06/17/2025 16:23 (16)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

Do you know our Splunk app?

Download it now for free!