CVE-2023-38559: Ghostscript: out-of-bound read in base/gdevdevn.c:1973 in devn_pcx_write_rle could result in dos

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-08-01 · updated 2026-06-23
Weakness: CWE-125

Description

A buffer overflow flaw was found in base/gdevdevn.c:1973 in devn_pcx_write_rle() in ghostscript. This issue may allow a local attacker to cause a denial of service via outputting a crafted PDF file for a DEVN device with gs.

Affected products

Artifex Ghostscript: before 10.02.0 — fixed in 10.02.0
Debian Linux: 10.0
Fedoraproject Fedora: 37, 38
Red Hat Enterprise Linux: 8.0, 9.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Artifex Ghostscript 10.02.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6544
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7053
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-38559
https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=706897
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2224367
https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commitdiff;h=d81b82c70bc1
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6544
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7053
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-38559
https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=706897
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2224367
https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commitdiff;h=d81b82c70bc1

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