Is CVE-2017-8291 being actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2017-8291 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added on May 24, 2022.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2017-8291?

CVE-2017-8291 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).

CVE-2017-8291

HIGH · CVSS 7.8CISA KEV: actively exploitedEPSS 97.0%EU EUVD: exploited

Artifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 allows -dSAFER bypass and remote command execution via .rsdparams type confusion with a "/OutputFile (%pipe%" substring in a crafted .eps document that is an input to the gs program, as exploited in the wild in April 2017.

Key facts

CVSS score: 7.8 (v3.1)
Severity: HIGH
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE): CWE-843
EPSS score: 97.0% (100th percentile)
In CISA KEV: Yes, added May 24, 2022
In EU EUVD: Yes (EUVD-2017-17253)
Published: April 27, 2017
NVD last modified: June 17, 2026
Status: Analyzed

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Artifex Ghostscript Type Confusion Vulnerability

Added to the KEV catalog on May 24, 2022; federal remediation due June 14, 2022.

EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)

This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2017-17253 in the EU Vulnerability Database. ENISA flags it as known exploited. Last updated in EUVD on October 21, 2025.

View on the EU Vulnerability Database

Affected products

artifex / ghostscript
debian / debian linux
redhat / enterprise linux desktop
redhat / enterprise linux desktop
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux server
redhat / enterprise linux server
redhat / enterprise linux server aus
redhat / enterprise linux server aus
redhat / enterprise linux server aus
redhat / enterprise linux server aus
redhat / enterprise linux server tus
redhat / enterprise linux server tus
redhat / enterprise linux server tus
redhat / enterprise linux workstation
redhat / enterprise linux workstation

Certified products that may be affected

1 FIPS 140 or Common Criteria certified product, from automated matching by sec-certs.org.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 - Red Hat, Inc. - Common Criteria CCEVS-VR-VID-11039-2020 - archived

References

http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/04/28/2(Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory)
http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3838(Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/98476(Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:1230(Third Party Advisory)
https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697808(Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1446063(Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1036453(Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
https://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=04b37bbce174eed24edec7ad5b920eb93db4d47d(Broken Link)
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201708-06(Third Party Advisory)
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-8291(US Government Resource)
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41955/(Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)

Last updated September 17, 2026 · Source: NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS

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