Cyber Resilience

CVE-2017-8291

Memory Safety in Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus 7.3 … 7.7

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
27 April 2017
Modified
21 April 2026
KEV Added
24 May 2022
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.96 99.9th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2017-8291 is a high-severity Type Confusion (CWE-843) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Artifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 is affected by a type confusion vulnerability (CWE-843) involving the .rsdparams parameter. When a crafted .eps file containing an "/OutputFile (%pipe%" substring is processed by the gs program, the flaw permits a bypass of the -dSAFER sandbox and enables arbitrary command execution.

An attacker can supply the malicious EPS document as input to Ghostscript, achieving remote command execution on the target system. The attack requires local access or user interaction to open the file and carries a CVSS 7.8 rating reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The issue was exploited in the wild in April 2017. Security advisories and updates addressing the flaw were issued by distributions including Debian (DSA-3838) and Red Hat (RHSA-2017:1230), along with a Ghostscript bug tracker entry.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Artifex Ghostscript through 2017-04-26 allows -dSAFER bypass and remote command execution via .rsdparams type confusion with a "/OutputFile (%pipe%" substring in a crafted .eps document that is an input to the gs program, as exploited in the wild in April…

more

2017.

CWE(s)
CWE-843
KEV Date Added
24 May 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2020-6418Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2019-8506Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktopboth on KEV
CVE-2017-5070Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktopboth on KEV
CVE-2017-11292Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktopboth on KEV
CVE-2021-21224Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2023-4762Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2023-2033Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2012-0507Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2018-17480Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2023-3079Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV

Affected Assets

artifex
ghostscript
≤ 9.21
debian
debian linux
8.0
redhat
enterprise linux desktop
6.0, 7.0
redhat
enterprise linux eus
7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7
redhat
enterprise linux server
6.0, 7.0
redhat
enterprise linux server aus
7.3, 7.4, 7.6, 7.7
redhat
enterprise linux server tus
7.3, 7.6, 7.7
redhat
enterprise linux workstation
6.0, 7.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.5.2
  • V3.2.3
  • V15.3.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent type-confusion flaws via safe typing, static analysis, and code review while the control itself addresses many additional weaknesses.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect type-confusion vulnerabilities through fuzzing and static analysis.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates type-safe design and review that can catch type-confusion flaws.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify strong typing and interface contracts that reduce type confusion.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles promote type-safe languages and memory-safety mechanisms that mitigate type confusion.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly forbid unsafe type casts and require static-analysis checks for type confusion.

References