Ghostscript
CVE-2022-2085
MEDIUM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Null pointer safety, defensive checks
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| 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 | A local attacker with access to the system could crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in Ghostscript, which occurs when it tries to render a large number of bits in memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Check pointers before dereferencing. Use static analysis tools to detect null pointer paths.
Affects your stack
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Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476), which allows attackers to crash the application by dereferencing a null pointer. A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in Ghostscript, which occurs when it tries to render a large number of bits in memory. When allocating a buffer device, it relies on an init_device_procs defined for the device that uses it as a prototype that depends upon the number of bits per pixel. For bpp > 64, mem_x_device is used and does not have an init_device_procs defined. This flaw allows an attacker to parse a large number of bits (more than 64 bits per pixel), which triggers a NULL pointer dereference flaw, causing an application to crash. Affected products include: Artifex Ghostscript, Fedoraproject Fedora.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
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
DescriptionNVD
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in Ghostscript, which occurs when it tries to render a large number of bits in memory. When allocating a buffer device, it relies on an init_device_procs defined for the device that uses it as a prototype that depends upon the number of bits per pixel. For bpp > 64, mem_x_device is used and does not have an init_device_procs defined. This flaw allows an attacker to parse a large number of bits (more than 64 bits per pixel), which triggers a NULL pointer dereference flaw, causing an application to crash.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
More in Ghostscript
View allArtifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 allows -dSAFER bypass and remote command execution via .rsdparams type confusion
The PS Interpreter in Ghostscript 9.18 and 9.20 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted userparams
An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no aut
Multiple integer underflows in the icmLut_allocate function in International Color Consortium (ICC) Format library (iccl
In Artifex Ghostscript through 10.01.0, there is a buffer overflow leading to potential corruption of data internal to t
Artifex Ghostscript 9.25 and earlier allows attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via vectors involving the
Artifex Ghostscript 9.25 and earlier allows attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via vectors involving err
The fill_threshhold_buffer function in base/gxht_thresh.c in Artifex Software, Inc. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this
The Ins_MIRP function in base/ttinterp.c in Artifex Ghostscript GhostXPS 9.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial
The gs_alloc_ref_array function in psi/ialloc.c in Artifex Ghostscript 9.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of
Integer overflow in the mark_curve function in Artifex Ghostscript 9.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of ser
Ghostscript can execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of its process when it renders a crafted PostScript
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB