CVE-2024-46952
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript allows buffer overflow during PDF XRef stream handling, potentially enabling remote code execution. It affects systems processing PDF files with Ghostscript versions before 10.04.0. Organizations using Ghostscript for PDF rendering or conversion are at risk.
💻 Affected Systems
- Artifex Ghostscript
📦 What is this software?
Ghostscript by Artifex
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the Ghostscript process, potentially leading to full system compromise.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) or limited memory corruption leading to unstable behavior.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact if Ghostscript runs in sandboxed environments with limited privileges.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting a malicious PDF file with specific XRef stream values.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 10.04.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/ghostpdl/blob/master/doc/News.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download Ghostscript 10.04.0 or later from official sources
2. Stop all Ghostscript processes
3. Install the updated version
4. Restart affected services
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable PDF processing
allTemporarily disable Ghostscript PDF processing until patching
Run with reduced privileges
linuxRun Ghostscript with minimal system privileges to limit impact
sudo -u nobody gs [options]
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation for PDF files before processing
- Isolate Ghostscript processes in containerized or sandboxed environments
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Ghostscript version with 'gs --version' and compare to 10.04.0Check Version:
gs --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 10.04.0 or higher with 'gs --version'📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Ghostscript crash logs
- Memory access violation errors
- Unexpected process termination
Network Indicators:
- Unusual PDF file uploads to systems using Ghostscript
SIEM Query:
process_name:gs AND (event_type:crash OR exit_code:139)