Is CVE-2018-16540 being actively exploited?

CVE-2018-16540 is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2018-16540?

CVE-2018-16540 has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).

CVE-2018-16540

HIGH · CVSS 7.8EPSS 1.6%EU EUVD

In Artifex Ghostscript before 9.24, attackers able to supply crafted PostScript files to the builtin PDF14 converter could use a use-after-free in copydevice handling to crash the interpreter or possibly have unspecified other impact.

Key facts

CVSS score: 7.8 (v3.0)
Severity: HIGH
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE): CWE-416
EPSS score: 1.6% (75th percentile)
In CISA KEV: No
In EU EUVD: Yes (EUVD-2018-8349)
Published: September 5, 2018
NVD last modified: June 17, 2026
Status: Modified

EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)

This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2018-8349 in the EU Vulnerability Database. Last updated in EUVD on August 5, 2024.

View on the EU Vulnerability Database

Affected products

artifex / ghostscript
canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
debian / debian linux
debian / debian linux
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux desktop
redhat / enterprise linux server
redhat / enterprise linux server
redhat / enterprise linux server aus
redhat / enterprise linux server eus
redhat / enterprise linux server eus
redhat / enterprise linux server tus
redhat / enterprise linux workstation
redhat / openshift container platform

Certified products that may be affected

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

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 OpenSSH Server Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 3891 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 - Red Hat, Inc. - Common Criteria CCEVS-VR-VID-11039-2020 - archived

References

http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=c432131c3fdb2143e148e8ba88555f7f7a63b25e
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327(Third Party Advisory)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0229(Third Party Advisory)
https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=699661(Issue Tracking, Permissions Required, Vendor Advisory)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00015.html(Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-12(Third Party Advisory)
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3768-1/(Third Party Advisory)
https://www.artifex.com/news/ghostscript-security-resolved/(Patch, Vendor Advisory)
https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4288(Third Party Advisory)

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

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