Artifex Ghostscript before 9.53.0 has an out-of-bounds write and use-after-free in…
Priority MEDIUM 44CWE-416Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-416 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Artifex Ghostscript before 9.53.0 has an out-of-bounds write and use-after-free in devices/vector/gdevtxtw.c (for txtwrite) because a single character code in a PDF document can map to more than one Unicode code point (e.g., for a ligature).
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00879 59th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 5
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.51:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.51 | Vulnerable | Artifex |
| cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.52:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.52 | Vulnerable | Artifex |
| cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.52.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.52.1 | Vulnerable | Artifex |
| cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.53.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.53.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Artifex |
| cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.53.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.53.0 rc2 | Vulnerable | Artifex |
- cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.51:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.51 Vulnerable ·Artifex
- cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.52:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.52 Vulnerable ·Artifex
- cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.52.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.52.1 Vulnerable ·Artifex
- cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.53.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.53.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Artifex
- cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.53.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.53.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Artifex
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2020-36773
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mwx2-8cmg-6vmj
References
More Artifex Ghostscript vulnerabilities
- TI-2017-05861 Artifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 allows -dSAFER bypass and remote command execution… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2021-02712 Improper input validation in ghostscript CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
- TI-2023-13382 In Artifex Ghostscript through 10.01.0, there is a buffer overflow leading to potential… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-11841 An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24. CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
- TI-2024-19474 Artifex Ghostscript before 10.03.0 has a stack-based buffer overflow in the… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-14200 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in clj_media_size function in devices/gdevclj.c in Artifex… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
Sources
- CVE-2020-36773 · CVE Program
- CVE-2020-36773 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-mwx2-8cmg-6vmj · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2020-36773 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences