CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-3781 — Artifex Ghostscript security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.9

A trivial sandbox (enabled with the `-dSAFER` option) escape flaw was found in the ghostscript interpreter by injecting a specially crafted pipe command. This flaw allows a specially crafted document to execute arbitrary commands on the system in the context of the ghostscript interpreter. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.9 (3.1)
Published
2022-02-16
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-20, CWE-78

Affected products

  • artifex / ghostscript / 9.50
  • artifex / ghostscript / 9.52
  • artifex / ghostscript / 9.53.3
  • artifex / ghostscript / 9.54.0
  • fedoraproject / fedora / 34

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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