Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-27831 is a critical-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 45th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-27831 is a text buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-120) discovered in Artifex Ghostscript versions before 10.05.0. The flaw affects the DOCXWRITE and TXTWRITE devices, specifically in the file devices/vector/doc_common.c, where long characters trigger the overflow.
The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating it is exploitable remotely with low complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction required. Attackers can leverage this to gain high-impact access, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution, data compromise, or system disruption on affected systems processing malicious inputs.
Advisories recommend upgrading to Ghostscript 10.05.0 or later to mitigate the issue. Key references include the Ghostscript bug tracker entry at https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=708132 and the Debian LTS announcement at https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/04/msg00014.html.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-8087
Vulnerability Data
An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 10.05.0. The DOCXWRITE TXTWRITE device has a text buffer overflow via long characters to devices/vector/doc_common.c.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.2.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and analysis can find missing size checks before deployment.
Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.
Engineering principles require bounds checking and safe buffer handling in design.
Memory protection limits the impact of an overflow once it occurs.
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.
Secure development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.
Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.
Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.
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.
Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.
Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.
Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.
Application security requirements can specify input-size validation and safe buffer handling to mitigate classic buffer overflows.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding patterns that reduce the likelihood of unchecked buffer copies.