# CVE-2018-16542: Denial of service in n/a

> Attackers can crash the Ghostscript interpreter by supplying crafted PostScript files due to insufficient stack-size checking during error handling.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16542, GHSA-rpj7-rf55-hgch, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-16542

## What is CVE-2018-16542?

CVE-2018-16542 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript, published on 5 Sep 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24, attackers able to supply crafted PostScript files could use insufficient interpreter stack-size checking during error handling to crash the interpreter.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-16542?

It affects 8 products.


Products: Artifex Ghostscript, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-16542?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-16542 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-16542 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Artifex Ghostscript

- [CVE-2017-8291](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8291/): Artifex Ghostscript Type Confusion (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-3781](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3781/): Command injection in ghostscript (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2025-27831](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27831/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-27832](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27832/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-27836](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27836/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-16542 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-16542 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript, published on 5 Sep 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-16542 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Artifex Ghostscript. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16542/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16542/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-16542
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16542
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-16542

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16542/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.