CVE-2016-7976 [High] | Input Validation Bypass in Ghostscript

CVE-2016-7976 is rated High Risk (67.8/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 46.83%, 98th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-03-15	48.41%	46.83%	-1.58%
2	2026-03-04	49.65%	48.41%	-1.24%
3	2026-03-01	—	49.65%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-03-15

48.41%

46.83%

-1.58%

2026-03-04

49.65%

48.41%

-1.24%

2026-03-01

—

49.65%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.8	3.0	HIGH	`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` 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:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.9	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` 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:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.8

3.0

HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.9

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P 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:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-7976

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	high	CVE-2016-7976 high 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-2016-7976
`gentoo`	normal	CVE-2016-7976: 1 GLSA(s) (201702-31), 1 atom(s) (app-text/ghostscript-gpl); latest impact normal.	https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-7976
`redhat`	high	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-7976
`suse`	high	CVE-2016-7976 severity important: SUSE including 40 source package names (ghostscript-10.05.0-160000.2.2, ghostscript-9.20-2.1, …), 50 product×package rows across 21 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 12 SP5, … (21 product lines)): Fixed 50.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-7976/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2016-7976 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (ghostscript), 5 status rows across 5 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety): released 4, needs-triage 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7976

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7976

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
artifex	ghostscript	9.18	cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.18:::::::*
artifex	ghostscript	9.20	cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:9.20:::::::*

References for CVE-2016-7976

URL	Tags
http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=user/chrisl/ghostpdl.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=6d444c273da5499a4cd72f21cb6d4c9a5256807d
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3691
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/19/6	Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95332	Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697178	Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201702-31	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2016-7976

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-7976

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-7976

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-7976

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-7976

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7976

References for CVE-2016-7976