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ghostscript — security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVAdvisory ID: DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585

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)

Products
ghostscript
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
9.25~dfsg-1
CVEs
CVE-2018-16585
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
1 Nov 2026, 00:08 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585

core-osv · Original source

Published 6 Sept 2018, 14:29 UTC

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)

osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585

ghostscript

Fixed versions: 9.25~dfsg-1

ghostscript

Fixed versions: 9.25~dfsg-1

ghostscript

Fixed versions: 9.25~dfsg-1

Complete source record
{
  "id": "abcd7b3fb134bd5f1f6c4132db0b0f6e0221e40b707bfc1e59e73188098f702d",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585",
    "summary": "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)",
    "evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "ghostscript",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "9.25~dfsg-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "ghostscript",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "9.25~dfsg-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "ghostscript",
          "evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "9.25~dfsg-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585",
      "aliases": [
        "DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "9.25~dfsg-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "ghostscript",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/ghostscript?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:12"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "9.25~dfsg-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "ghostscript",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/ghostscript?arch=source&distro=trixie",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:13"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "9.25~dfsg-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "ghostscript",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/ghostscript?arch=source&distro=forky",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:14"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16585.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-23T18:03:00.662231254Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "upstream": [
        "CVE-2018-16585"
      ],
      "references": [
        "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-16585"
      ]
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2018-16585",
        "evidence": "/upstream"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 420096,
  "published_at": "2018-09-06T14:29:00.76+00:00"
}