CVE-2009-5078

contrib/pdfmark/pdfroff.sh in GNU troff (aka groff) before 1.21 launches the Ghostscript program without the -dSAFER option, which allows remote attackers to create, overwrite, rename, or delete arbitrary files via a crafted document.

Published: 2011-06-30 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2009-5078 is rated Moderate Risk (51.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.32%). Review affected assets and schedule 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-2009-5078

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 2025-03-30 3.00% 1.32% -1.68%
2 2025-03-29 1.32% 3.00% +1.68%
3 2025-03-19 — 1.32% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-5078

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 2.5 [email protected]
6.4 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2009-5078

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-5078

vendor priority summary link
debian low CVE-2009-5078 low priority: Debian including 1 source packages (groff), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2009-5078
gentoo low CVE-2009-5078: 1 GLSA(s) (201310-14), 1 atom(s) (sys-apps/groff); latest impact low. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-5078
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-5078
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-5078 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (groff), 6 status rows across 6 suites (hardy, lucid, maverick, natty, oneiric, upstream): not-affected 5, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-5078

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-5078

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gnu groff <= 1.20.1 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.10 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.11 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.11a cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.11a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.14 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.15 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.16 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.16.1 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.16.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.17.1 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.17.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.17.2 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.17.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.18.1 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.18.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.19 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.19:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.19.1 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.19.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.19.2 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.19.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
gnu groff 1.20 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:groff:1.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x <= 10.10.4 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-5078

cvelogic Threat Intelligence