CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-16585 — An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24

High CVSS 7.8

An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24. The .setdistillerkeys PostScript command is accepted even though it is not intended for use during document processing (e.g., after the startup phase). This leads to memory corruption, allowing remote attackers able to supply crafted PostScript to crash the interpreter or possibly have unspecified other impact. Note: A reputable source believes that the CVE is potentially a duplicate of CVE-2018-15910 as explained in Red Hat bugzilla (https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1626193)

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.0)
Published
2018-09-06
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-119

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

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

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

Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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