CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-16539 — Artifex Ghostscript security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 5.5

In Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24, attackers able to supply crafted PostScript files could use incorrect access checking in temp file handling to disclose contents of files on the system otherwise not readable.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.5 (3.0)
Published
2018-09-05
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-200

Affected products

  • artifex / ghostscript
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 14.04
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 16.04
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 18.04
  • debian / debian_linux / 8.0
  • debian / debian_linux / 9.0

Showing 6 representative product identities from 12 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Information disclosure and sensitive data exposure

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace sensitive data through responses, errors, logs, metrics, traces, caches, exports, files, backups, and client bundles.
  • Identify affected subjects, tenants, retention windows, access controls, and downstream copies without opening unnecessary sensitive records.
  • Review metadata, timing, status, length, and existence signals as well as direct content disclosure.

Remediate safely

  • Minimize collection and output, apply field-level authorization and redaction at a centralized boundary, and return generic external errors.
  • Remove secrets and sensitive data from logs, artifacts, URLs, caches, and client-side bundles; rotate credentials that may have been exposed.
  • Update the affected component and add synthetic-data tests for response, error, observability, and export paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.