CVE-2017-8291

Summary

CVE	CVE-2017-8291
State	PUBLISHED
Assigner	mitre
Source Priority	CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published	2017-04-27 01:59:02 UTC
Updated	2026-04-21 18:02:58 UTC
Description	Artifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 allows -dSAFER bypass and remote command execution via .rsdparams type confusion with a "/OutputFile (%pipe%" substring in a crafted .eps document that is an input to the gs program, as exploited in the wild in April 2017.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.928750000 probability, percentile 0.997720000 (date 2026-04-24)

CISA KEV: Listed on 2022-05-24; due 2022-06-14; ransomware use Unknown

Problem Types: CWE-843 | n/a | CWE-843 CWE-843 Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type ('Type Confusion')

Version	Source	Type	Score	Severity	Vector
3.1	[email protected]	Primary	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
3.1	ADP	DECLARED	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
3.1	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0	Secondary	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
2.0	[email protected]	Primary	6.8		`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

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

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector

Network

Access Complexity

Medium

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

Partial

Integrity

Partial

Availability

Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Vendor	Artifex
Product	Ghostscript
Name	Artifex Ghostscript Type Confusion Vulnerability
Required Action	Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Notes	https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8291

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

Type	Vendor	Product	Version	Update	Edition	Language
Application	Artifex	Ghostscript	All	All	All	All
Operating System	Debian	Debian Linux	8.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Desktop	6.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Desktop	7.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Eus	7.3	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Eus	7.4	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Eus	7.5	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Eus	7.6	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Eus	7.7	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server	6.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server	7.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Aus	7.3	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Aus	7.4	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Aus	7.6	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Aus	7.7	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Tus	7.3	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Tus	7.6	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Tus	7.7	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Workstation	6.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Workstation	7.0	All	All	All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

Source	Vendor	Product	Version	Platforms
CNA	Na	N/a	affected n/a	Not specified

References

Reference	Source	Link	Tags
Bug 1446063 – CVE-2017-8291 ghostscript: corruption of operand stack	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	bugzilla.redhat.com	Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Red Hat Customer Portal	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	access.redhat.com	Third Party Advisory
git.ghostscript.com Git - ghostpdl.git/commit	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	git.ghostscript.com	Broken Link
www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0	www.cisa.gov	US Government Resource
oss-security - Re: CVE-2017-8291 ghostscript remote code execution	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	openwall.com	Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-3838-1 ghostscript	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.debian.org	Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
GPL Ghostscript: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 201708-06) — Gentoo security	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	security.gentoo.org	Third Party Advisory
Ghostscript 9.21 - Type Confusion Arbitrary Command Execution (Metasploit)	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.exploit-db.com	Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Ghostscript CVE-2017-8291 Multiple Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.securityfocus.com	Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Bug 1036453 – VUL-0: CVE-2017-8291: ghostscript,ghostscript-library: Artifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 allows -dSAFER bypass and remotecommand execution via a "/Ou...	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	bugzilla.suse.com	Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Bug 697808 – %pipe% security issue	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	bugs.ghostscript.com	Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
git.ghostscript.com Git - ghostpdl.git/commit	MITRE	git.ghostscript.com
CVE Program record	CVE.ORG	www.cve.org	canonical
NVD vulnerability detail	NVD	nvd.nist.gov	canonical, analysis
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog	CISA	www.cisa.gov	kev

No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.

Additional Advisory Data

Source	Time	Event
ADP	2022-05-24T00:00:00.000Z	CVE-2017-8291 added to CISA KEV

Legacy QID Mappings

378325 Virtuozzo Linux Security Update for ghostscript-devel (VZLSA-2017:1230)
500203 Alpine Linux Security Update for ghostscript
503945 Alpine Linux Security Update for ghostscript
710373 Gentoo Linux GPL Ghostscript Multiple Vulnerabilities (GLSA 201708-06)