CVE-2017-8291VulnerabilityPublished 05/24/2022Updated 10/24/2026

CVE-2017-8291: Artifex Ghostscript Type Confusion Vulnerability

Affects Artifex GhostscriptSource CISA KEV

Severity

High

No CVSS score published yet

Exploitation: Actively exploited – in CISA KEV since 05/24/2022
KEV deadline: 06/14/2022
EPSS: 97.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 99% of CVEs

What to do

CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8291 (opens in a new tab)

Description

CVE-2017-8291 is a high-severity vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript that allows bypassing the -dSAFER security option and enables remote command execution. This occurs due to a type confusion issue involving .rsdparams and the "/OutputFile" parameter. The vulnerability has been exploited in the wild.

Summary

Artifex Ghostscript contains a type confusion vulnerability (CVE-2017-8291) that permits attackers to bypass the -dSAFER restriction and execute arbitrary commands remotely. The flaw arises from improper handling of .rsdparams type confusion with the "/OutputFile" parameter, which undermines the intended security restrictions of the -dSAFER mode. This vulnerability has been observed in active exploitation scenarios.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows remote attackers to bypass Ghostscript's -dSAFER security feature and execute arbitrary commands on the affected system. This can lead to full system compromise depending on the privileges of the Ghostscript process. The vulnerability has been exploited in the wild, indicating active threat usage.

Mitigation

Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict access to Ghostscript processing and avoid processing untrusted files to mitigate risk.

Weaknesses

CWE-704Incorrect Type Conversion or Cast (opens in a new tab)

What to do

Description

AnalysisAI-generated, updated 10/24/2026, 11:42:27 UTC

Weaknesses

References

Related threats