CVE-2023-46751
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in the function gdev_prn_open_printer_seekable() in Artifex Ghostscript through 10.02.0 allows remote attackers to crash the application via a dangling pointer.
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 confidenceA dangling pointer vulnerability in Ghostscript's gdev_prn_open_printer_seekable() function allows remote attackers to crash the application. This affects the printer device component of Ghostscript through version 10.02.0 and can be triggered via maliciously crafted PostScript or PDF files processed by Ghostscript.
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<= 10.02.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Verify Ghostscript is installedRun 'gs --version' or check for ghostscript in package management (dpkg -l | grep ghostscript, rpm -qa | grep ghostscript)Affected if Ghostscript is found on the system
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Determine installed Ghostscript versionExecute 'gs --version' and note the version number returnedAffected if Version is 10.02.0 or lower (e.g., 10.01.x, 10.00.x, 9.xx series)
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Confirm printer device availabilityRun 'gs -h' or 'gs -q -dNODISPLAY -- gdevprn' to list available devices; the printer device (gdevprn) is built into Ghostscript by defaultAffected if The printer device component is present in the Ghostscript build
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Audit for processing of untrusted PostScript/PDF inputReview application logs, file upload directories, or document processing workflows that invoke Ghostscript on user-supplied .ps or .pdf filesAffected if Ghostscript is configured to process untrusted or user-uploaded PostScript/PDF files without sanitization
You are affected if Ghostscript version 10.02.0 or lower is installed AND the printer device component is available AND untrusted PostScript/PDF files can be processed by Ghostscript.
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 · scopedUpdate Ghostscript to a version beyond 10.02.0 when available. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict or sanitize user-supplied PostScript/PDF input to prevent exploitation.
Ghostscript version 10.03.0 or later (the first stable release after 10.02.0 that addresses this Use After Free vulnerability)
- Check current Ghostscript version using: gs --version
- Upgrade Ghostscript to the latest available version beyond 10.02.0 that includes the security fix for CVE-2023-46751
- Verify the upgrade was successful by running: gs --version
- Test critical document processing workflows to ensure functionality is not affected
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-46751 — 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-2023-46751 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