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GhostscriptApplication

CVE-2008-6679

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-04-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Buffer overflow in the BaseFont writer module in Ghostscript 8.62, and possibly other versions, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ps2pdf crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted Postscript file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in Ghostscript 8.62's BaseFont writer module allows remote attackers to cause denial of service (ps2pdf crash) and potentially execute arbitrary code via crafted PostScript files. The overflow occurs when processing maliciously constructed font data in the BaseFont writing functionality.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Ghostscript that addresses this vulnerability, and implement controls to validate or sandbox processing of untrusted PostScript files.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
GhostscriptApplication
Affected:= 8.62

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Ghostscript version
    Run 'gs --version' or 'gs -v' at the command line to determine the Ghostscript version number
    Affected if The version displayed is exactly 8.62
  2. Confirm BaseFont writing functionality in use
    Determine if ps2pdf or related tools are being used to convert PostScript files, as the vulnerability is in the BaseFont writer module
    Affected if ps2pdf or Ghostscript is invoked to write or convert PostScript files containing BaseFont data
  3. Check for processing of untrusted PostScript files
    Audit logs, file processing pipelines, or applications that feed external or user-supplied PostScript files to Ghostscript
    Affected if PostScript files from untrusted or external sources are processed by the affected Ghostscript installation

A system is affected if Ghostscript version 8.62 is installed AND it processes PostScript files using the BaseFont writer functionality, particularly from untrusted sources

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Ghostscript that addresses this vulnerability, and implement controls to validate or sandbox processing of untrusted PostScript files.

Fix this in Ghostscript Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-6679 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data