What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-16299?

CVE-2020-16299 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (Medium). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 1.8%.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2020-16299?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2020-16299. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 1.8%.

Ghostscript CVE-2020-16299

MEDIUM

Divide By Zero (CWE-369)

2020-08-13 cve@mitre.org

Denial Of Service Debian Canonical Debian Linux Ubuntu Linux Ghostscript Artifex

5.5

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-369 OWASP Top 10:2025 A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions ASVS 5.0 V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Division safety checks
Impact	CVSS score of 5.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	Successful exploitation could compromise the medium-severity affected system.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).

No patch listed yet 1.8% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

A Division by Zero vulnerability in bj10v_print_page() in contrib/japanese/gdev10v.c of Artifex Software GhostScript v9.50 allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service via a crafted PDF. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-369. A Division by Zero vulnerability in bj10v_print_page() in contrib/japanese/gdev10v.c of Artifex Software GhostScript v9.50 allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service via a crafted PDF file. This is fixed in v9.51. Affected products include: Artifex Ghostscript, Debian Debian Linux, Canonical Ubuntu Linux.

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM

AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

DescriptionNVD

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

1.8%

Top 24% exploitable

Exploit

POC

Public exploit code exists

Data Quality

2 sources

Confidence: Low

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity MEDIUM

CISA KEV No

Public POC Yes

EPSS 1.8%

Patch available No

Active threat No

Deciding rule

MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Scheduled

Exploitation· derived

Poc

System Exposure· derived

Small

Automatable· derived

Human Impact· derived

Medium

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: +2

CVSS: +28

PoC: +20

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service MEDIUM

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

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Same weakness CWE-369 – Divide By Zero

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CVE-2023-3896 HIGH POC

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CVE-2023-1127 HIGH POC

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CVE-2023-0512 HIGH POC

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CVE-2021-29600 HIGH POC

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Same technique Denial Of Service

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CVE-2011-0611 HIGH POC

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CVE-2012-1889 HIGH POC

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CVE-2012-0507 CRITICAL POC

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CVE-2014-1761 HIGH POC

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CVE-2015-5122 CRITICAL POC

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CVE-2011-0609 HIGH POC

7.8

References

Advisories & patches

REF https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=19cebe708b9ee3d9e0f8bcdd79dbc6ef9ddc70d2 REF https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=4fcbece46870 REF https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/08/msg00032.html REF https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202008-20 REF https://usn.ubuntu.com/4469-1/ REF https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4748

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