How severe is CVE-2020-16299?

CVE-2020-16299 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2020-16299 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (76th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2020-16299?

CVE-2020-16299 primarily affects Artifex Ghostscript. In total, 6 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2020-16299?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2020-16299 published?

CVE-2020-16299 was published on 2020-08-13 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2020-16299

CVE-2020-16299 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Artifex Ghostscript with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-369.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
CVSS v2: 4.3
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (76th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-369
Affected product: Artifex Ghostscript
Published: 2020-08-13
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

A Division by Zero vulnerability in bj10v_print_page() in contrib/japanese/gdev10v.c of Artifex Software GhostScript v9.50 allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service via a crafted PDF file. This is fixed in v9.51.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-16299?: A Division by Zero vulnerability in bj10v_print_page() in contrib/japanese/gdev10v.c of Artifex Software GhostScript v9.50 allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service via a crafted PDF file. This is fixed in v9.51.
How severe is CVE-2020-16299?: CVE-2020-16299 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2020-16299 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (76th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2020-16299?: CVE-2020-16299 primarily affects Artifex Ghostscript. In total, 6 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2020-16299?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2020-16299 published?: CVE-2020-16299 was published on 2020-08-13 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (6)

cpe:2.3:a:artifex:ghostscript:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Artifex Ghostscript

CVE-2021-3781 — Critical (CVSS 9.9): A trivial sandbox (enabled with the `-dSAFER` option) escape flaw was found in the ghostscript interpreter by injecting…
CVE-2025-27837 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 10.05.0. Access to arbitrary files can occur through a truncated…
CVE-2025-27836 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 10.05.0. The BJ10V device has a Print buffer overflow in…
CVE-2025-27832 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 10.05.0. The NPDL device has a Compression buffer overflow for…
CVE-2025-27831 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue was discovered in Artifex Ghostscript before 10.05.0. The DOCXWRITE TXTWRITE device has a text buffer overflow…
CVE-2020-36773 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Artifex Ghostscript before 9.53.0 has an out-of-bounds write and use-after-free in devices/vector/gdevtxtw.c (for…

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CVE-2024-26945 — High (CVSS 8.4): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: iaa - Fix nr_cpus < nr_iaa case If…

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