---
title: "CVE-2018-16863\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the
  desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.
url: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16863?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

# CVE-2018-16863

Publication date 3 December 2018

Last updated 25 August 2025

---

Ubuntu priority

**Medium**

[Why this priority?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#priority )

## Cvss 3 Severity Score

**7.8 · High**

[Score breakdown](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16863?format=md#impact-score)

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## Description

It was found that RHSA-2018:2918 did not fully fix CVE-2018-16509. An
attacker could possibly exploit another variant of the flaw and bypass the
-dSAFER protection to, for example, execute arbitrary shell commands via a
specially crafted PostScript document. This only affects ghostscript 9.07
as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

[Read the notes from the security team](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16863?format=md#notes)

## Status

Show unmaintained releases

| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ghostscript | 18.10 cosmic | Not affected |
| 18.04 LTS bionic | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |

---

* [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)
* [What do statuses mean?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#statuses)

## Notes

---

### [leosilva](https://launchpad.net/~leosilva)

Ubuntu releases are not affected since we applied the full patch
set.

## Severity score breakdown

CVSS version:
CVSS v3.0

**Base score**

7.8 · High

* Base metrics

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Attack vector | Local |
  | Attack complexity | Low |
  | Privileges required | None |
  | User interaction | Required |
  | Scope | Unchanged |
  | Confidentiality impact | High |
  | Integrity impact | High |
  | Availability impact | High |
* Scores

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Base score | 7.8 · High |
  | Exploitability score | - |
  | Impact score | - |

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

## References

* [MITRE](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2018-16863)
* [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16863)
* [Launchpad](https://launchpad.net/bugs/cve/CVE-2018-16863)
* [Debian](https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-16863)

### Other references

* <http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commit;h=520bb0ea7519>
* <http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commit;h=5516c614dc33>
* <http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commit;h=78911a01b67d>
* <http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commit;h=79cccf641486>
* <https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3761>
* <https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16863>
* <https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-16863>