CVE-2009-4897

Buffer overflow in gs/psi/iscan.c in Ghostscript 8.64 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted PDF document containing a long name.

Published: 2010-07-22 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2009-4897 is rated High Risk (68.1/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 6.63%, 93th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2009-4897

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 8.29% 6.63% -1.66%
2 2025-10-15 10.67% 8.29% -2.38%
3 2025-03-31 — 10.67% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-4897

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2009-4897

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-4897

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2009-4897 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (ghostscript), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2009-4897
gentoo normal CVE-2009-4897: 1 GLSA(s) (201412-17), 1 atom(s) (app-text/ghostscript-gpl); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-4897
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-4897
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-4897 medium priority: Ubuntu including 4 source packages (ghostscript, gs-afpl, gs-esp, gs-gpl), 28 status rows across 7 suites (dapper, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, lucid, upstream): DNE 16, ignored 3, needs-triage 3, not-affected 3, released 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-4897

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-4897

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
artifex afpl_ghostscript 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 6.01 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:6.01:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 6.50 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:6.50:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 7.00 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:7.00:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 7.03 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:7.03:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 7.04 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:7.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.00 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.00:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.11 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.12 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.13 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.14 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.50 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.50:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.51 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.51:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.52 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.52:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.53 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.53:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex afpl_ghostscript 8.54 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:afpl_ghostscript:8.54:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex ghostscript_fonts 8.11 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript_fonts:8.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript <= 8.64 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.01 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.01:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.15 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.50 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.50:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.51 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.51:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.54 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.54:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.56 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.56:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.57 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.57:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.60 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.60:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.61 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.61:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.62 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.62:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.63 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.63:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.70 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.70:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
artifex gpl_ghostscript 8.71 cpe:2.3:a:artifex:gpl_ghostscript:8.71:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-4897

cvelogic Threat Intelligence