Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2019-25059
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 · uneditedArtifex Ghostscript through 9.26 mishandles .completefont. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2019-3839.
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 · moderate confidenceArtifex Ghostscript through 9.26 contains a vulnerability in the .completefont implementation that exists due to an incomplete fix for the earlier CVE-2019-3839. The vulnerability allows an attacker to potentially exploit the PostScript interpreter, likely achieving code execution or unauthorized file access, given the CVSS 7.8 score indicates high severity impact.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0<= 9.26CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Ghostscript versionRun 'gs --version' or 'ghostscript --version' to get the installed version numberAffected if Version is 9.26 or lower (any version <= 9.26)
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Confirm Ghostscript installationRun 'which gs' or 'dpkg -l | grep ghostscript' on Debian systems to verify Ghostscript is installedAffected if Ghostscript is installed and the version check above shows <= 9.26
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Verify PostScript processing capabilityCheck if Ghostscript can process PostScript files by attempting to run 'gs -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -sDEVICE=pdfwrite input.ps' or checking for ps2pdf wrappersAffected if Ghostscript can execute or interpret PostScript files (this is the default enabled behavior)
A user is affected if Ghostscript version 9.26 or lower is installed AND the application can process untrusted PostScript files, as the vulnerability resides in the .completefont implementation accessible during PostScript interpretation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpgrade Ghostscript to a version beyond 9.26 that contains the complete fix for CVE-2019-3839 and addresses the .completefont issue; alternatively, restrict or disable Ghostscript's ability to process untrusted PostScript files if upgrading is not immediately feasible.
Ghostscript 9.27 or later (or the latest available version in your distribution's repository)
- Update your system's package list: 'apt-get update'
- Upgrade Ghostscript: 'apt-get install --only-upgrade ghostscript'
- Verify the installed version: 'gs --version'
- Ensure the version is 9.27 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-25059 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-25059 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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