Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-38559

Memory Safety in Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.0 … 9.0

Published
01 August 2023
Modified
23 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0043 35th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-38559 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 35th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A buffer overflow flaw was found in base/gdevdevn.c:1973 in devn_pcx_write_rle() in ghostscript. This issue may allow a local attacker to cause a denial of service via outputting a crafted PDF file for a DEVN device with gs.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-3773Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-40549Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-40550Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-40551Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-43788Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-41360Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-31122Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-4428Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-4761Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-40589Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

artifex
ghostscript
≤ 10.02.0
redhat
enterprise linux
8.0, 9.0
fedoraproject
fedora
37, 38
debian
debian linux
10.0

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)
  • V5.2.1

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-120

Platform-independent managed code eliminates the need for unchecked native buffer copies that are the root cause of classic buffer overflows.

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-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

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.

prevents

Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

detects

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
detects

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

References