#VU6546 Type confusion in Ghostscript - CVE-2017-8291
Published: May 15, 2017 / Updated: November 20, 2020
Vulnerability identifier: #VU6546
Vulnerability risk: Critical
CVSSv4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/U:Red
CVE-ID: CVE-2017-8291
CWE-ID: CWE-704
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
The vulnerability is being exploited in the wild
Vulnerable software:
Ghostscript
Ghostscript
Software vendor:
Artifex Software, Inc.
Artifex Software, Inc.
Description
The vulnerability allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on a targeted system.
The weakness exists due to type confusion error when processing user-supplied parameters passed to the .rsdparams and .eqproc functions in ghostscript. A remote attacker can submit a specially crafted .eps document, execute code in the context of the ghostscript process and bypass -dSAFER protection.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may result in system compromise.
Note: this vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.
The weakness exists due to type confusion error when processing user-supplied parameters passed to the .rsdparams and .eqproc functions in ghostscript. A remote attacker can submit a specially crafted .eps document, execute code in the context of the ghostscript process and bypass -dSAFER protection.
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may result in system compromise.
Note: this vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.
Remediation
Ghostscript 9.21 through 2017-04-26 is vulnerable. Older versions may also be affected.