#VU45845 Use-after-free in Ghostscript - CVE-2020-16303

Vulnerability identifier: #VU45845

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 6.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-16303

CWE-ID: CWE-416

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Ghostscript
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: Artifex Software, Inc.

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to compromise vulnerable system.

The vulnerability exists due to a use-after-free error when processing a crafted PDF file in devices/vector/gdevxps.c. A remote attacker can trick the victim to open a specially crafted PDF file, trigger a use-after-free error and execute arbitrary code on the target system.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may allow an attacker to compromise vulnerable system.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Ghostscript: 9.50

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External links
https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=701818
https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commitdiff;h=94d8955cb77
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/08/msg00032.html

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.