CVE-2019-3838: artifex ghostscript Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2019-3838 is a high (CVSS 7.3) 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 7 · Related 2Timeline
- 25-03-2019PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 04-08-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
It was found that the forceput operator could be extracted from the DefineResource method in ghostscript before 9.27. A specially crafted PostScript file could use this flaw in order to, for example, have access to the file system outside of the constrains imposed by -dSAFER.
CVSS metrics
8 scores · 5 sources · 3 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- NVDNIST5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NDiffers
- NVDNIST7.3HighCVSS: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 causeAffected systems
Known conditions: network-reachable, no authentication, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Suse19 products
- ghostscript-library&distro=SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3< 8.62-47.16.1
- ghostscript-library&distro=SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS< 8.62-47.16.1
- ghostscript&distro=SUSE Enterprise Storage 4< 9.26a-23.22.1
- ghostscript&distro=SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3< 9.26a-23.22.1
- ghostscript&distro=SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4< 9.26a-23.22.1
Redhat8 products
- ansible_tower3.3
- enterprise_linuxEOL5.0 | 6.0
- enterprise_linux_desktop7.0
- enterprise_linux_server7.0
- enterprise_linux_server_aus7.6
Opensuse3 products
- leapEOL15.0 | 42.3
- ghostscript-mini&distro=openSUSE Leap 15.0< 9.26a-lp150.2.17.2
- ghostscript&distro=openSUSE Leap 15.0< 9.26a-lp150.2.17.2
Debian2 products
- ghostscript< 9.27~dfsg-1
- debian_linuxEOL8.0 | 9.0
Alpine1 product
- ghostscript< 9.26-r2
Artifex1 product
- ghostscript< 9.27
Fedoraproject1 product
- fedoraEOL28 | 29 | 30
The ghostscript project1 product
- ghostscript9.27
Ubuntu1 product
- ghostscript< 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu0.14.04.8 | < 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu0.16.04.8 | < 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu0.18.04.8
9 vendors · 37 products
References
26 links- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2019-3838X Refsource CONFIRMIssue TrackingThird Party Advisory
- lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00011.htmlVendor AdvisoryX Refsource SUSEMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00018.htmlVendor AdvisoryX Refsource SUSEMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/152367/Slackware-Security-Advisory-ghostscript-Updates.htmlX Refsource MISCThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
Show all 26 references
- lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/04/msg00021.htmlMailing ListX Refsource MLISTThird Party Advisory
- lists.opensuse.org/archives/…Advisory