CVE-2019-14812: artifex ghostscript Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2019-14812 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs vulnerability in artifex ghostscript. EPSS estimates a 2.47% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 84.5% of scored vulnerabilities.
Severe, CVSS 7.3 (CVE.org); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources; EPSS 2% (FIRST, 03-11-2026)
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 10 · Related 5Timeline
- 27-11-2019PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 05-08-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
A flaw was found in all ghostscript versions 9.x before 9.50, in the .setuserparams2 procedure 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.
CVSS metrics
8 scores · 5 sources · 3 versions- OSV · AlpineEcosystem advisory · calculated7.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated7.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated7.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- NVDNIST7.3HighCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated7.3HighCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
EPSS trend
Probability
2.47%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
85%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 2.47% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogs
CISA KEVNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
ENISA CNWNot in the ENISA CNW catalog.
CIRCLNot in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root cause- CWE-648Incorrect Use of Privileged APIsThe product does not conform to the API requirements for a function call that requires extra privileges. This could allow attackers to gain privileges by causing the function to be called incorrectly.
- CWE-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical ResourceThe product specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors.
Affected systems
Known conditions: network-reachable, no authentication, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Alpine1 product
- ghostscript≥ 9.00, < 9.27-r3 | ≥ 9.00, < 9.26-r4
Artifex1 product
- ghostscript≥ 9.00, < 9.50
Debian1 product
- ghostscript< 9.28~~rc2~dfsg-1
Fedoraproject1 product
- fedoraEOL31
Red hat1 product
- ghostscriptall ghostscript versions 9.x before 9.50
Ubuntu1 product
- ghostscript< 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu0.16.04.11 | < 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu0.18.04.11
6 vendors · 6 products
References
11 links- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2019-14812X Refsource CONFIRMIssue TrackingThird Party Advisory
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/…X Refsource CONFIRM
