CVE-2018-16541: artifex ghostscript Use After Free

Modified

AliasesUBUNTU-CVE-2018-16541DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16541

Published 05-09-2018Last modified 05-08-2024

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2018-16541 is a medium (CVSS 5.5) Use After Free vulnerability in artifex ghostscript. EPSS estimates a 1.42% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 72.9% of scored vulnerabilities.

Priority

Routine

Not severe (CVSS 5.5, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources

Source freshness unavailable

How is this decided?

CVSS score

5.5/10

010

Medium · v3.0 (NVD)

EPSS score

1.42%

0%100%

Low · +0.01 pp in 30 days

KEVNot listedNot listed by any tracked catalog.

RansomwareNot flaggedNo ransomware use recorded.

Public exploits0No public exploits recorded

Advisory lineage

Upstream 0 · Downstream 12 · Related 8

DLA-1504-1 DSA-4288-1 MGASA-2018-0378 OPENSUSE-SU-2018:3687-1 OPENSUSE-SU-2024:10783-1 RHSA-2018:3834+6 more

Timeline

05-09-2018
PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
05-08-2024
Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

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.

CVSS metrics

4 scores · 3 sources · 2 versions

v3.05.5v2.04.3

EPSS trend

Probability

1.42%

Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days

Percentile

73%

Versus all other CVEs

30-day change

Increase +0.01 pp

From 1.41% on 04-10-2026

04-10-202603-11-2026

Known exploited

Compare KEV catalogs

CISA KEV

Not in the CISA KEV catalog.

ENISA CNW

Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.

CIRCL

Not in the CIRCL catalog.

Public exploits

0 found

No public exploits indexed.

Weaknesses

CWE · root cause

CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.

Affected systems

Version check

Known conditions: local access, no authentication, user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.

Redhat6 products

Show all 6

Debian2 products

ghostscript< 9.22~dfsg-3
debian_linuxEOL8.0 | 9.0

Artifex1 product

ghostscript< 9.24

Canonical1 product

ubuntu_linuxEOL14.04 | 16.04 | 18.04

Ubuntu1 product

ghostscript< 9.10~dfsg-0ubuntu10.13 | < 9.18~dfsg~0-0ubuntu2.9 | < 9.22~dfsg+1-0ubuntu1.2

5 vendors · 11 products

References

12 links

git.ghostscript.com?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=241d91112771a6104de10b3948c3f350d6690c1dX Refsource MISC
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-12Vendor AdvisoryX Refsource GENTOOThird Party Advisory
usn.ubuntu.com/3768-1/Vendor AdvisoryX Refsource UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3834Vendor AdvisoryX Refsource REDHATThird Party Advisory
www.artifex.com/news/ghostscript-security-resolved/X Refsource MISCPatchVendor AdvisoryREPORT
www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4288Vendor AdvisoryX Refsource DEBIANThird Party Advisory
bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=699664X Refsource MISCIssue TrackingPermissions RequiredVendor Advisory
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00015.htmlMailing ListX Refsource MLISTThird Party Advisory
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16541REPORT
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3768-1Advisory

Show all 12 references