---
id: "CVE-2017-8291"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2017-8291"]
title: "Artifex Ghostscript: Artifex Ghostscript Type Confusion Vulnerability"
severity: "high"
cvss: 7.8
epss: 0.96968
exploited: true
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: [{"name": "Artifex Ghostscript", "fixed": [], "affected": "", "ecosystem": "vendor"}]
ecosystems: ["vendor"]
tags: ["document-conversion", "exploited", "ghostscript", "linux", "package", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["no-untrusted-input", "static-export"]
published_at: "2017-04-27T01:59:02+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "kev", "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2017-8291", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2017-8291", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:13:45+00:00"}, {"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8291", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00"}]
---

# Artifex Ghostscript: Artifex Ghostscript Type Confusion Vulnerability

Ghostscript has a type confusion bug in its handling of .rsdparams files that lets a crafted PostScript file bypass the -dSAFER sandbox. An attacker who can get Ghostscript to process a malicious file can run arbitrary commands on the host.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Affected

- vendor:Artifex Ghostscript affected ? fixed ?

## How to check

Run gs --version and compare against the fixed version named in the vendor advisory.
Search for places that pass untrusted files to gs, such as document converters, thumbnailers or upload pipelines.

## Fix

Upgrade Ghostscript to the version the vendor lists as fixed for CVE-2017-8291.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00 kev https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2017-8291
- 2026-10-23T19:13:45+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2017-8291
- 2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8291

## From the sources

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 2017.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_