CVE-2019-14869

Publication date 14 November 2019

Last updated 25 August 2025

Ubuntu priority

Cvss 3 Severity Score

Description

A flaw was found in all versions of ghostscript 9.x before 9.50, where the `.charkeys` procedure, where it did not properly secure its privileged calls, enabling scripts to bypass `-dSAFER` restrictions. An attacker could abuse this flaw by creating a specially crafted PostScript file that could escalate privileges within the Ghostscript and access files outside of restricted areas or execute commands.

Status

Show unmaintained releases

Package	Ubuntu Release	Status
ghostscript	19.10 eoan	Fixed 9.27~dfsg+0-0ubuntu3.1
	19.04 disco	Fixed 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu7.4
	18.04 LTS bionic	Fixed 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu0.18.04.12
	16.04 LTS xenial	Fixed 9.26~dfsg+0-0ubuntu0.16.04.12
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release

Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. How can I get the fixes?

Package	Patch details
ghostscript	Upstream: https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commitdiff;h=485904772c5f0aa1140032746e5a0abfc40f4cef

Severity score breakdown

CVSS version: CVSS v3.0

Base score 8.8 · High

Base metrics

Parameter	Value
Attack vector	Network
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges required	None
User interaction	Required
Scope	Unchanged
Confidentiality impact	High
Integrity impact	High
Availability impact	High

Scores

Parameter	Value
Base score	8.8 · High
Exploitability score	-
Impact score	-

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

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

USN-4193-1
Ghostscript vulnerability
14 November 2019

Other references

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-14869