How severe is CVE-2020-17353?

CVE-2020-17353 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2020-17353 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (82nd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2020-17353?

CVE-2020-17353 primarily affects Lilypond. In total, 6 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2020-17353?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2020-17353 published?

CVE-2020-17353 was published on 2020-08-05 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2020-17353

CVE-2020-17353 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Lilypond with a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low.

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 9.8)
CVSS v2: 7.5
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (82nd percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Affected product: Lilypond
Published: 2020-08-05
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

scm/define-stencil-commands.scm in LilyPond through 2.20.0, and 2.21.x through 2.21.4, when -dsafe is used, lacks restrictions on embedded-ps and embedded-svg, as demonstrated by including dangerous PostScript code.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-17353?: scm/define-stencil-commands.scm in LilyPond through 2.20.0, and 2.21.x through 2.21.4, when -dsafe is used, lacks restrictions on embedded-ps and embedded-svg, as demonstrated by including dangerous PostScript code.
How severe is CVE-2020-17353?: CVE-2020-17353 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2020-17353 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (82nd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2020-17353?: CVE-2020-17353 primarily affects Lilypond. In total, 6 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2020-17353?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2020-17353 published?: CVE-2020-17353 was published on 2020-08-05 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (6)

cpe:2.3:a:lilypond:lilypond:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:31:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:backports_sle:15.0:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Lilypond

CVE-2018-10992 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): lilypond-invoke-editor in LilyPond 2.19.80 does not validate strings before launching the program specified by the…
CVE-2017-17523 — High (CVSS 8.8): lilypond-invoke-editor in LilyPond 2.19.80 does not validate strings before launching the program specified by the…
CVE-2020-17354 — High (CVSS 8.6): LilyPond before 2.24 allows attackers to bypass the -dsafe protection mechanism via output-def-lookup or…

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