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CVE-2023-4042

Ghostscript: incomplete fix for cve-2020-16305

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: August 23, 2023 at 12:19 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 06:36 AM UTC
9 products affected across 2 vendorsEnterprise LinuxGhostscriptEnterprise Linux for IBM Z Systems

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

A flaw was found in ghostscript. The fix for CVE-2020-16305 in ghostscript was not included in RHSA-2021:1852-06 advisory as it was claimed to be. This issue only affects the ghostscript package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

Ghostscript· Artifex
95%
v < 9.51
Affected range stops below 9.51, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Codeready Linux Builder· Red Hat
95%
8.0
Codeready Linux Builder for ARM64· Red Hat
95%
8.0_aarch64
Codeready Linux Builder for IBM Z Systems· Red Hat
95%
8.0_s390x
Codeready Linux Builder for Power Little Endian· Red Hat
95%
8.0_ppc64le
Enterprise Linux· Red Hatrpm
95%
8.0
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:9.27-11.el8 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 9 (unaffected)
Enterprise Linux for Arm 64· Red Hat
95%
8.0_aarch64
Enterprise Linux for IBM Z Systems· Red Hat
95%
8.0_s390x
Enterprise Linux for Power Little Endian· Red Hat
95%
8.0_ppc64le

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

Patch and advisory references

References (4)

Vendor Advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7053
VDB Entryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4042
Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1870257
Issue Trackingx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2228151

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5.5MEDIUMredhat
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-125CWE-787

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