CVE-2019-14811 Security feature bypass in ghostscript

High 7.3 Published 3 Sep 2019 Updated 5 Aug 2024

Attackers can bypass -dSAFER restrictions via crafted PostScript files to execute arbitrary commands or access the file system.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2019-14811?

CVE-2019-14811 is a high-severity vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript, published on 3 Sep 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A flaw was found in, ghostscript versions prior to 9.50, in the .pdf_hook_DSC_Creator 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.

Weakness: CWE-863, CWE-648

Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-14811?

It affects 5 products.

Products include Artifex Ghostscript, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Opensuse Leap, Redhat Openshift Container Platform.

How do I fix CVE-2019-14811?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2019-14811 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-14811 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Artifex Ghostscript vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2019-14811, DEBIAN-CVE-2019-14811, GHSA-q58c-x76h-3jhc, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-14811.