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CVE-2020-16291: A buffer overflow vulnerability in contrib/gdevdj9.c of Artifex Software GhostScript v9.18 to v9.50 allows...

A buffer overflow vulnerability in contrib/gdevdj9.c of Artifex Software GhostScript v9.18 to v9.50 allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service via a crafted PDF file. This is fixed in v9.51.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Ghostscript versions 9.18 through 9.50 can crash when handling a specially crafted PDF. The documented impact is denial of service, not confirmed data theft or system takeover. Organizations that automatically process PDFs should prioritize patching because this can disrupt document conversion, printing, or file-ingestion workflows.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted availability risk for PDF-processing systems. It is not KEV-listed and the documented impact is denial of service, but automated document workflows can make even a crash vulnerability operationally disruptive.

Technical view

CVE-2020-16291 is a buffer overflow in Ghostscript contrib/gdevdj9.c affecting v9.18 to v9.50. The CVE description states a remote attacker can cause denial of service with a crafted PDF. The source bundle says this is fixed in v9.51, with distribution advisories from Debian, Gentoo, and Ubuntu.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely where Ghostscript 9.18-9.50 processes untrusted PDFs, including document conversion, print, thumbnailing, and attachment-processing pipelines. The provided affected CPE data is incomplete, so asset owners should verify installed Ghostscript versions directly.

Exploitation context

The provided sources describe crafted-PDF denial of service. The CVE is not marked KEV, and the bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation. The sources do not establish reliable remote code execution, so treat availability impact as the confirmed risk.

Researcher notes

Focus validation on version range and reachability through PDF inputs. The key evidence is the Ghostscript source fix and distro advisories. CVSS, CWE, and CPE details are absent or incomplete in the bundle, so avoid over-scoping beyond Ghostscript v9.18-v9.50.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade Ghostscript to v9.51 or later where directly managed.
  • Apply Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo, or other vendor Ghostscript security updates.
  • Reduce automatic processing of untrusted PDFs until patched.
  • Check current vendor guidance for supported fixed package versions.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory systems and services running Ghostscript.
  • Confirm whether installed versions are 9.18 through 9.50.
  • Identify workflows that process PDFs from external or unauthenticated sources.
  • Verify patched package records include CVE-2020-16291.
  • Confirm document-processing services remain stable after update.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
8

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

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.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
8Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.