CVE-2016-7979

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-14. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 6%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

Ghostscript before 9.21 might allow remote attackers to bypass the SAFER mode protection mechanism and consequently execute arbitrary code by leveraging type confusion in .initialize_dsc_parser.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
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 computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation6% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
6%
EPSS %ILE
93%
KEV
Not listed

Published

May 23, 2017

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

Advisory Details (7)

Auto-updated Aug 25, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0013.html
generic

GPL Ghostscript: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 201702-31) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201702-31
generic

697190 – .initialize_dsc_parser doesn't validate the parameter is a dict type before using it.

https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697190
generic

CVE-2016-7979 - PSIRT.COM

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95337
generic

oss-security - Re: CVE Request - multiple ghostscript -dSAFER sandbox problems

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/05/15
generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 3691-1] ghostscript security update

http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3691
generic
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0014.html

Patch Availability(3)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulibgs9-common (9.10~dfsg-0ubuntu10.5) @ trusty2026-05-20ubuntu
redhatghostscript-0:9.07-20.el7_3.12017-01-04redhat
redhatghostscript-0:8.70-21.el6_8.12017-01-04redhat

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

(6 across 6 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
ghostscript—9.19~dfsg-3.1—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
ghostscript—9.19~dfsg-3.1—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
ghostscript—9.19~dfsg-3.1—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
ghostscript—9.19~dfsg-3.1—
Debian:7(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
ghostscript9.05~dfsg-6.3, 9.05~dfsg-6.3+deb7u1, 9.05~dfsg-6.3+deb7u29.05~dfsg-6.3+deb7u3—
Debian:8(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
ghostscript9.06~dfsg-2, 9.06~dfsg-2+deb8u1, 9.06~dfsg-2+deb8u29.06~dfsg-2+deb8u3—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

All Vendor Advisories

(3)

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 3× in last 7d / 23× 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.

Showing the most recent 100 of 141 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-08-25 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-21 23:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-19 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
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  25. 2026-07-25 07:41 UTCOSV refresh
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  1. 2026-07-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
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  25. 2026-07-09 19:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-07-08 02:05 UTCOSV refresh
  28. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
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  50. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
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  52. 2026-06-19 13:55 UTCOSV refresh
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Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2016-7979?
CVE-2016-7979 is a critical vulnerability published on May 23, 2017. Ghostscript before 9.21 might allow remote attackers to bypass the SAFER mode protection mechanism and consequently execute arbitrary code by leveraging type confusion in .initializedscparser.
When was CVE-2016-7979 disclosed?
CVE-2016-7979 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on May 23, 2017, with the most recent update on June 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2016-7979 actively exploited?
CVE-2016-7979 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 6.8% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-7979?
CVE-2016-7979 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2016-7979?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2016-7979, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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