CVE-2024-29507
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript when processing CIDFSubstPath and CIDFSubstFont parameters. Attackers could potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by exploiting this overflow. Systems using Ghostscript for PDF/PostScript processing are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Artifex Ghostscript
📦 What is this software?
Ghostscript by Artifex
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Denial of service causing Ghostscript crashes and disruption of document processing services.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper sandboxing and privilege separation, potentially just crashes.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting malicious documents that trigger the buffer overflow via specific parameters.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 10.03.0
Vendor Advisory: https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=707510
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download Ghostscript 10.03.0 or later from official sources. 2. Stop all Ghostscript services. 3. Install the updated version. 4. Restart services. 5. Verify the update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Ghostscript in document processing pipelines
allTemporarily remove Ghostscript from document conversion/processing workflows
Sandbox Ghostscript execution
linuxRun Ghostscript in isolated containers or with minimal privileges
docker run --read-only --cap-drop=ALL ghostscript
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation for documents processed by Ghostscript
- Deploy network segmentation to isolate Ghostscript servers from critical systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Run 'gs --version' and check if version is below 10.03.0Check Version:
gs --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm 'gs --version' returns 10.03.0 or higher📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Ghostscript crash logs
- Unexpected process termination
- Memory access violation errors
Network Indicators:
- Unusual document upload patterns to Ghostscript services
SIEM Query:
process_name:"gs" AND (event_type:"crash" OR exit_code:139)🔗 References
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=707510
- https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=7745dbe24514
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/03/7
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=707510
- https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=7745dbe24514
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/07/03/7
