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CmsApplication · Argyllcms

CVE-2009-0584

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-03-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.64 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
icc.c in the International Color Consortium (ICC) Format library (aka icclib), as used in Ghostscript 8.64 and earlier and Argyll Color Management System (CMS) 1.0.3 and earlier, allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code by using a device file for processing a crafted image file associated with large integer values for certain sizes, related to an ICC profile in a (1) PostScript or (2) PDF file with embedded images.

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 icc.c in the ICC Format library (icclib) when processing ICC profiles with large integer values for certain size fields. When embedded in PostScript or PDF files, specially crafted images can trigger crashes or potentially execute arbitrary code due to improper bounds checking on size parameters in ICC profile data.

MitigationUpdate Ghostscript to version 8.64 or later and Argyll CMS to version 1.0.3 or later. Alternatively, implement input validation to reject or sanitize ICC profiles from untrusted sources before processing.

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
CmsApplication
Affected:<= 1.0.3
GhostscriptApplication
Affected:<= 8.64= 0= 5.50= 7.05= 7.07= 8.0.1= 8.15= 8.15.2= 8.54= 8.56= 8.57= 8.60

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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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' on command line to get the Ghostscript interpreter version number
    Affected if The reported version is 8.64 or lower, or matches any of these specific versions: 5.50, 7.05, 7.07, 8.0.1, 8.15, 8.15.2, 8.54, 8.56, 8.57, 8.60, or 0
  2. Identify installed Argyll CMS version
    Run 'icclu -V' or check the application's version through its executable name (often 'argyllcms') using '--version' flag, or locate the application binary and query its metadata
    Affected if The version is 1.0.3 or lower
  3. Confirm icclib or ICC profile handling component presence
    Search for files named icc.c, icclib, libicc, or related ICC profile processing libraries in the system: 'find / -name "*icc*" -type f 2>/dev/null' on Unix-like systems, or check the Ghostscript plugin directory for icc profiles
    Affected if The icclib component (icclib) or icc.c source file is present and the associated Ghostscript or Argyll CMS version is vulnerable per steps 1-2
  4. Check for PDF/PostScript processing workflows
    Determine if the system processes PDF or PostScript files that may contain embedded ICC profiles. Inspect any document processing services, print spoolers, or image conversion tools that use Ghostscript or Argyll CMS
    Affected if The system processes PDF or PostScript files through vulnerable Ghostscript versions, particularly with embedded image content using ICC color profiles

Your environment is affected if Ghostscript version is 8.64 or lower (including 5.50, 7.05, 7.07, 8.0.1, 8.15, 8.15.2, 8.54, 8.56, 8.57, or 8.60), or if Argyll CMS version is 1.0.3 or lower, and these components process ICC profiles embedded in PDF or PostScript files.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.64
Interim mitigation

Update Ghostscript to version 8.64 or later and Argyll CMS to version 1.0.3 or later. Alternatively, implement input validation to reject or sanitize ICC profiles from untrusted sources before processing.

Recommended fix High confidence

Ghostscript 8.65+ or Argyll CMS 1.0.4+

  1. Upgrade Ghostscript from any version <= 8.64 to version 8.65 or later
  2. If using Argyll Color Management System, upgrade from any version <= 1.0.3 to version 1.0.4 or later
  3. After upgrading, verify the new versions are installed by running 'gs --version' for Ghostship or checking the Argyll CMS version
  4. Test that PostScript and PDF files with embedded ICC profiles process correctly

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Cms Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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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-2009-0584 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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