CVE-2023-38559

MEDIUMNVD 5.55.5
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS score.

Score 5.5 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: MODERATE) published 2023-08-01. NVD baseline CVSS 5.5; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: EPSS, GitHub Security Advisory, NVD CVSS v3

Also known asEUVD-2023-42358 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-v34c-9rwg-qpf6 (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD

5.5EG
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorRemediate within your standard update timelines (the SSVC decision on this page).
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0.4%CVSS: 5.5Exploit: None knownExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

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.

CVSS v3
5.5
EG Score
5.5MEDIUMmedium confidence
EG Risk
25
EG Risk 25/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity55% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 5.5 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation0.4% × 40%
FIRST EPSS: the 30-day exploitation probability when EchelonGraph scored this CVE.
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at every mission impact level.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
EPSS PROB
0.4%
EPSS %ILE
38th
KEV
Not listed

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (5.5): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 5.5 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.

EG Severity
5.5 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
EG Likelihood
0.4% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-06). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.

Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.

The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

Published

August 1, 2023

Last Modified

November 7, 2026

Advisory Details (5)

Auto-updated Jun 23, 2026
Patch available. Sources: redhat.
Red HatMentions a patch (unverified)

cve-details

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-38559
Red HatMentions a patch (unverified)

Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7053
Red HatMentions a patch (unverified)

Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:6544
Red HatMentions a patch (unverified)

2224367 – (CVE-2023-38559) CVE-2023-38559 ghostscript: Out-of-bound read in base/gdevdevn.c:1973 in devn_pcx_write_rle could result in DoS

Affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2224367

Patch Availability(3)

Vendor / EcosystemFix (by version range) / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulibgs9-common (10.0.0~dfsg1-0ubuntu1.3) @ lunar2026-10-24ubuntu
redhatghostscript-0:9.27-11.el82023-11-14redhat
redhatghostscript-0:9.54.0-13.el92023-11-07redhat

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

(5 across 5 ecosystems)
Debian:10(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
ghostscript9.27~dfsg-2 ... 9.27~dfsg-2+deb10u7 (8 versions)
  • every version up to 9.27~dfsg-2+deb10u8: fixed in 9.27~dfsg-2+deb10u8
—
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
ghostscript9.53.3~dfsg-7 ... 9.53.3~dfsg-7+deb11u5 (6 versions)
  • every version up to 9.53.3~dfsg-7+deb11u6: fixed in 9.53.3~dfsg-7+deb11u6
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
ghostscript10.0.0~dfsg-11, 10.0.0~dfsg-11+deb12u1
  • every version up to 10.0.0~dfsg-11+deb12u2: fixed in 10.0.0~dfsg-11+deb12u2
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
ghostscript—
  • every version up to 10.02.0~dfsg-1: fixed in 10.02.0~dfsg-1
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
ghostscript—
  • every version up to 10.02.0~dfsg-1: fixed in 10.02.0~dfsg-1
—

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2023-38559?
CVE-2023-38559 is a medium-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on August 1, 2023. 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.
When was CVE-2023-38559 made public?
CVE-2023-38559 was made public on July 17, 2023: that is the date its CVE record's CNA, Red Hat, Inc., gives for when the vulnerability was made public. The CVE record itself was published on August 1, 2023. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of November 7, 2026; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2023-38559 actively exploited?
CVE-2023-38559 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (38th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-38559?
CVE-2023-38559 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2023-38559?
A fix for CVE-2023-38559 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

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