dbcve.org
GhostscriptApplication · Artifex

CVE-2024-29507

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.03.0 or later.
See remediation →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Artifex Ghostscript before 10.03.0 sometimes has a stack-based buffer overflow via the CIDFSubstPath and CIDFSubstFont parameters.

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 confidence

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Artifex Ghostscript versions prior to 10.03.0. The overflow is triggered through the CIDFSubstPath and CIDFSubstFont parameters during CID font substitution processing, potentially allowing an attacker to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code via specially crafted PostScript/PDF files.

MitigationUpgrade Ghostscript to version 10.03.0 or later to remediate the stack-based buffer overflow. Restrict processing of untrusted PostScript/PDF files as an interim measure.

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:< 10.03.0

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

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 Ghostscript version
    Run 'gs --version' or 'gswin64c --version' (Windows) to obtain the installed Ghostscript version number
    Affected if The version number is lower than 10.03.0 (e.g., 10.02.1, 10.01.0, 9.x.x series)
  2. Locate Ghostscript configuration files
    Check for presence of ghostscript 'lib/ghostscript.conf' or user-specific '~/.ghostscript' directory, and examine any custom GS_LIB or GS_OPTIONS environment variables that point to configuration directories
    Affected if A custom configuration is in use and points to directories containing older Ghostscript installations
  3. Detect CID font substitution settings
    Search configuration files (*.conf, *.ps, init*.ps files) and environment variables for the strings 'CIDFSubstPath' or 'CIDFSubstFont' using grep or equivalent file content search
    Affected if Either CIDFSubstPath or CIDFSubstFont parameters are defined in any active configuration
  4. Review PDF/PostScript processing pipelines
    Inspect any automated document processing workflows, print servers, or applications that invoke Ghostscript to process untrusted PDF/PostScript files and log or monitor the command-line arguments passed to gs
    Affected if Ghostscript is invoked with custom arguments enabling CID font substitution or processing files from untrusted sources

You are affected if your installed Ghostscript version is below 10.03.0 AND you use CID font substitution features (CIDFSubstPath/CIDFSubstFont) or process untrusted PostScript/PDF 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 10.03.0 or later
Fixed in 10.03.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Ghostscript to version 10.03.0 or later to remediate the stack-based buffer overflow. Restrict processing of untrusted PostScript/PDF files as an interim measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

10.03.0

  1. Check the current Ghostscript version by running 'gs --version' or 'ghostscript --version'
  2. Upgrade Ghostscript to version 10.03.0 or later using your system's package manager (e.g., 'apt-get update && apt-get install ghostscript', 'yum update ghostscript', or 'brew upgrade ghostscript')
  3. Verify the upgrade was successful by running 'gs --version' and confirming the version is 10.03.0 or higher
  4. Test that critical Ghostscript workflows function normally after the upgrade

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

Fix this in Ghostscript Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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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-2024-29507 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