Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Ghostscript 9.50 can crash when processing a specially crafted PDF. Systems that automatically convert, preview, rasterize, or print PDFs may lose service availability if exposed to untrusted documents. The public record identifies a fix in Ghostscript 9.51.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted availability risk for PDF-processing infrastructure. Prioritize patching internet-facing or automated document workflows, but do not escalate as actively exploited based on the supplied evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2020-16289 is a buffer overflow in cif_print_page() in devices/gdevcif.c in Artifex Ghostscript 9.50. The reported impact is denial of service via a crafted PDF. No CVSS vector, CWE, or broader affected-version range is provided in the supplied CVE data.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in document-processing services, print pipelines, preview generators, or desktop/server packages that use Ghostscript 9.50 on untrusted PDFs.
Exploitation context
The supplied sources describe remote denial of service through crafted PDF processing. KEV status is false, and no cited source here claims active exploitation in the wild.
Researcher notes
The evidence supports Ghostscript 9.50, the vulnerable function, crafted PDF trigger, DoS impact, and upstream fix version. Severity metadata is incomplete, and the supplied sources do not establish code execution or active exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Ghostscript to 9.51 or later where applicable.
- Apply Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, or other vendor security updates for Ghostscript.
- Prioritize systems that process untrusted PDFs automatically.
- Check current vendor guidance if packaged versions differ from upstream numbering.
Validation and detection
- Inventory hosts and applications that invoke Ghostscript for PDF handling.
- Confirm installed Ghostscript packages include the relevant 2020 security update.
- Review document-conversion and print services for untrusted PDF intake.
- Check service history for unexplained Ghostscript crashes around PDF processing.
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-2020-16289 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
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=701788CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=d31e25ed5b130499e0d880e4609b1b4824699768CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- [debian-lts-announce] 20200820 [SECURITY] [DLA 2335-1] ghostscript security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
- DSA-4748CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- GLSA-202008-20CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
- USN-4469-1CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
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.