Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Ghostscript is often embedded in document conversion and thumbnailing. This flaw affects Ghostscript before 9.26 and can weaken safety controls when another device is used. The business risk is hostile document content reaching a server-side Ghostscript workflow. The supplied sources do not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for internet-facing or user-upload document workflows. For desktop-only or internal print paths, handle through normal patching unless untrusted files are routinely processed.
Technical view
CVE-2018-19409 is a Ghostscript safety-control issue: LockSafetyParams is not checked correctly if another device is used. The public bundle names Ghostscript before 9.26 and distro advisories from Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, and Red Hat. No CVSS, CWE, or exploit confirmation is supplied.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where Ghostscript processes untrusted PostScript, PDF, EPS, or image-conversion input, especially upload pipelines, print workflows, preview services, and server-side thumbnailers running versions before 9.26.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not provide exploit details and KEV is false. Treat exploitation status as unconfirmed. Risk depends on whether attackers can submit documents to a vulnerable Ghostscript processing path.
Researcher notes
The provided record is sparse: no CVSS, CWE, affected CPEs, or exploit evidence. Analysis relies on the CVE description, Ghostscript 9.26 boundary, and vendor advisory references. Avoid asserting broader impact without reviewing the advisories directly.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Ghostscript to 9.26 or a vendor-fixed package.
- Apply Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, or Red Hat security updates where applicable.
- Avoid processing untrusted documents with vulnerable Ghostscript versions.
- Isolate document conversion services from sensitive files and internal networks.
- Check current vendor guidance for supported package-level fixes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Ghostscript versions across servers, containers, and build images.
- Map applications that call Ghostscript for previews, conversion, or printing.
- Confirm vulnerable hosts received relevant distro security updates.
- Verify untrusted uploads cannot reach outdated Ghostscript processors.
- Document any unsupported systems requiring compensating controls.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2018-19409 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- DSA-4346CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- GLSA-201811-12CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
- USN-3831-1CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=700176CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- RHSA-2018:3834CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=661e8d8fb8248c38d67958beda32f3a5876d0c3fCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- [debian-lts-announce] 20181128 [SECURITY] [DLA 1598-1] ghostscript security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
- https://www.ghostscript.com/doc/9.26/History9.htm#Version9.26CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.