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CVE-2016-7979

33
FAUCET Score

CVE-2016-7979 describes a critical vulnerability in Ghostscript versions prior to 9.21, where a type confusion error in the .initialize_dsc_parser function allows remote attackers to bypass the SAFER mode protection and execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability carries a CVSS v3 score of 9.8 (Critical), indicating it can be exploited remotely with low complexity and no user interaction, leading to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Despite its high severity, there is no known active exploitation, publicly available exploit code, or significant community discussion or media coverage surrounding this CVE.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
<= 9.20CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

9.8CRITICAL

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
3.9
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
6.42%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
93.0%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-25
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0642 is in the 88th percentile among its peer group of 36,833 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.3 Bluesky, 0.3 Mastodon, and 2.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (4)

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Fixed in: ghostscript-0:8.70-21.el6_8.1
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: ghostscript-0:9.07-20.el7_3.1
View patch
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5Fixed in: ghostscript
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise 2Fixed in: ghostscript

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2016-7979Moderate

ghostscript: Type confusion in .initialize_dsc_parser allows remote code execution

Oct 4, 2016

References

git.ghostscript.com
rhn.redhat.com / errata/RHSA-2017-0013.html
rhn.redhat.com / errata/RHSA-2017-0014.html
bugs.ghostscript.com / show_bug.cgi
Issue TrackingPatch
security.gentoo.org / glsa/201702-31
debian.org / security/2016/dsa-3691
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2016/10/05/15
Mailing ListPatch
securityfocus.com / bid/95337
Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry