CVE-2023-28879 – This CVE describes a buffer overflow vulnerabil... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-28879?

CVE-2023-28879 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). This CVE describes a buffer overflow vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript's PostScript interpreter that could allow attackers to corrupt internal data structures. If exploited, it could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution or denial of service. Systems using Ghostscript for PDF/PostScript processing are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes a buffer overflow vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript's PostScript interpreter that could allow attackers to corrupt internal data structures. If exploited, it could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution or denial of service. Systems using Ghostscript for PDF/PostScript processing are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Artifex Ghostscript

Versions: All versions through 10.01.0

Operating Systems: Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Any system using Ghostscript for PDF/PostScript processing, including web applications, document converters, and printing systems

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution with SYSTEM/root privileges leading to complete system compromise

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash (denial of service) or limited memory corruption

🟢

If Mitigated

Application crash with no privilege escalation if sandboxed properly

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Ghostscript often processes untrusted documents from external sources

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Still vulnerable to malicious documents but attack surface is reduced

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires crafting malicious PostScript/PDF documents. No public exploit code is available as of the advisory date.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 10.01.1 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/latest/News.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Download Ghostscript 10.01.1 or later from official sources. 2. Stop all Ghostscript services. 3. Install the updated version. 4. Restart services. 5. Verify the fix with version check.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable vulnerable BCP/TBCP functions

all

Configure Ghostscript to disable the affected BCPEncode, BCPDecode, TBCPEncode, and TBCPDecode functions

Add '-dNOSAFER' flag with appropriate configuration to disable vulnerable functions

Sandbox Ghostscript execution

linux

Run Ghostscript in a container or sandboxed environment with limited privileges

docker run --read-only --cap-drop=ALL ghostscript:latest
firejail --noprofile ghostscript

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict input validation for all documents processed by Ghostscript
Isolate Ghostscript processes with minimal privileges and network access

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Ghostscript version: gs --version. If version is 10.01.0 or earlier, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

gs --version

Verify Fix Applied:

After patching, run: gs --version. Verify version is 10.01.1 or later.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Ghostscript crash logs
Memory access violation errors
Unexpected process termination

Network Indicators:

Unusual document uploads to Ghostscript services
Multiple failed processing attempts

SIEM Query:

source="ghostscript.log" AND (error="segmentation fault" OR error="buffer overflow")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-28879

CVSS v3 Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

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

CWE: CWE-787

Published: March 31, 2023

Last Updated: February 14, 2025

🔗 References

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