Buffer overflow in (1) gv 3.5.8 and earlier, (2) gvv 1.0.2 and earlier, (3) ggv 1.99.90 and earlier, (4) gnome-gv, and (5) kghostview in kdegraphics 2.2.2 and earlier, allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malformed (a) PDF or (b) PostScript file, which is processed by an unsafe call to sscanf.
CVE-2002-0838
This CVE was only ever scored under CVSS v2.0. NVD CVSS v2.0 base 4.6 — v2 rates that MEDIUM (v2 bands: LOW 0.0–3.9 / MEDIUM 4.0–6.9 / HIGH 7.0–10.0; v2 has no CRITICAL band). Vector AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P. CVSS v2 is an older, coarser metric than v3.1/v4.0 (no Scope, no User Interaction, no Attack Requirements), so it is not directly comparable to a v3 or v4 score. NVD has never re-scored this record under v3. EPSS predicts 2.0% exploitation probability in the next 30 days, which is reflected in EG Risk but does not lift the v2 base. Confidence: LOW.
- Lower severity and no public exploit yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v2.0 (legacy)
- 4.6MEDIUMNVD never assigned a CVSS v3 rating to this CVE
- EG Score
- 4.6(low)
- EG Risk
- 51(Track)EG Risk 51/100SSVC: Track
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity46% × 45%Exploitation65% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS PROB
- 2%
- EPSS %ILE
- 80%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
October 10, 2002
Last Modified
June 16, 2026
References (36)
- cve@mitreftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/security/OpenLinux/CSSA-2002-053.0.txt
- cve@mitrehttp://distro.conectiva.com.br/atualizacoes/?id=a&anuncio=000542
- cve@mitrehttp://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=103305615613319&w=2
- cve@mitrehttp://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=103305778615625&w=2
- cve@mitrehttp://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=103487806800388&w=2
- cve@mitrehttp://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/retrieve.pl?doc=fsalert/47780&zone_32=category:security
- cve@mitrehttp://www.debian.org/security/2002/dsa-176
- cve@mitrehttp://www.debian.org/security/2002/dsa-179
- cve@mitrehttp://www.debian.org/security/2002/dsa-182
- cve@mitrehttp://www.iss.net/security_center/static/10201.php
- cve@mitrehttp://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/600777
- cve@mitrehttp://www.kde.org/info/security/advisory-20021008-1.txt
- cve@mitrehttp://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDKSA-2002:069
- cve@mitrehttp://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDKSA-2002:071
- cve@mitrehttp://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2002-207.html
Patch Availability(4)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| redhat | patch | 2002-12-04 | redhat |
| redhat | patch | 2002-10-10 | redhat |
| redhat | patch | 2002-10-10 | redhat |
| redhat | patch | 2002-10-04 | redhat |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(7 across 5 ecosystems)
Debian:3.0(3)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| gnome-gv | — | 1.1.96-3.1 | — |
| gv | — | 3.5.8-26.1 | — |
| kdegraphics | — | 2.2.2-6.8 | — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| gv | — | 1:3.5.8-27 | — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| gv | — | 1:3.5.8-27 | — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| gv | — | 1:3.5.8-27 | — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| gv | — | 1:3.5.8-27 | — |
All Vendor Advisories
(4)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 0× in last 7d / 5× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-09-16 06:52 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-09-12 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-09-10 09:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-30 01:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-28 05:09 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-11 18:44 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-26 19:17 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-26 13:22 UTCEG score recompute▲ 4.60
- 2026-07-25 14:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-24 14:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 00:44 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-23 00:25 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 23:48 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 21:28 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-20 17:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 09:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 09:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 01:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 01:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-09 13:15 UTCOSV refresh
Show 63 moreShow fewer
- 2026-07-08 15:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:52 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:42 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-19 19:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 18:48 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-31 18:48 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-31 18:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 05:33 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-05-27 13:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-24 16:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 22:36 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 11:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 11:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(2 references)Working exploit code is in the public domain (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-21871✓ verifiedFirst seen Sep 26, 2002
GV 2.x/3.x - '.PDF'/'.PS' File Buffer Overflow (1)
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-21872✓ verifiedFirst seen Sep 26, 2002
GV 2.x/3.x - '.PDF'/'.PS' File Buffer Overflow (2)
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same product + same vendor)
Same product
6 shownDebian:11:gv · Debian:3.0:kdegraphics
Frequently asked(4)
What is CVE-2002-0838?
When was CVE-2002-0838 disclosed?
Is CVE-2002-0838 actively exploited?
How do I remediate CVE-2002-0838?
Dependency Blast Radius
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