dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2020-17353

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.21.4 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
scm/define-stencil-commands.scm in LilyPond through 2.20.0, and 2.21.x through 2.21.4, when -dsafe is used, lacks restrictions on embedded-ps and embedded-svg, as demonstrated by including dangerous PostScript code.

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

A code injection vulnerability in LilyPond's safe mode (-dsafe) allows execution of arbitrary PostScript code through unrestricted embedded-ps and embedded-svg commands in scm/define-stencil-commands.scm, affecting versions 2.20.0 and earlier as well as 2.21.x through 2.21.4.

MitigationAvoid processing untrusted LilyPond files with -dsafe until a patched version is available; the fix requires implementing proper restrictions on embedded-ps and embedded-svg in the affected SCM file.

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 31= 32
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0
LilypondApplication
Affected:<= 2.20.0>= 2.21.0, <= 2.21.4
Backports SleApplication
Affected:= 15.0
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.2

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check if LilyPond is installed
    Run `lilypond --version` or check for the lilypond package using your system's package manager (e.g., `dnf list installed lilypond` on Fedora, `dpkg -l lilypond` on Debian, `rpm -qa lilypond` on openSUSE)
    Affected if LilyPond is installed and the version falls within 2.20.0 and earlier, or 2.21.0 through 2.21.4
  2. Identify the exact installed version
    Run `lilypond --version` and capture the version number from the output
    Affected if The version output is <= 2.20.0 OR >= 2.21.0 AND <= 2.21.4 (for example, 2.18.2, 2.19.84, 2.20.0, 2.21.0, or 2.21.4)
  3. Determine if -dsafe mode is being used
    Search your LilyPond build scripts, makefiles, or command-line invocations for the `-dsafe` flag being passed to LilyPond (grep for '-dsafe' in your project files or review the build logs)
    Affected if The -dsafe flag is present in the LilyPond command being used to process files
  4. Check for embedded-ps or embedded-svg in processed files
    Inspect the LilyPond source files (.ly files) being processed for presence of the #\{ embedded-ps ... \#} or #\{ embedded-svg ... \#} SCM commands in the input
    Affected if The LilyPond input files contain embedded-ps or embedded-svg expressions and are processed with -dsafe mode

You are affected if LilyPond version 2.20.0 or earlier, or 2.21.0 through 2.21.4 is installed AND the -dsafe flag is used to process LilyPond files containing embedded-ps or embedded-svg commands.

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 2.21.4
Interim mitigation

Avoid processing untrusted LilyPond files with -dsafe until a patched version is available; the fix requires implementing proper restrictions on embedded-ps and embedded-svg in the affected SCM file.

Recommended fix High confidence

LilyPond 2.22.0 or later (e.g., 2.22.1, 2.23.x, or latest stable release)

  1. 1. Check the current LilyPond version by running: lilypond --version
  2. 2. Upgrade LilyPond to version 2.22.0 or later (such as 2.22.1, 2.23.x, or the latest stable release)
  3. 3. On Fedora: Run 'sudo dnf update lilypond' to update to the latest available version
  4. 4. On Debian: Run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install lilypond' to get the latest version
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade was successful by running: lilypond --version
  6. 6. If using lilypond in automated workflows, ensure your build pipelines fetch the updated version

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

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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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-2020-17353 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