# CVE-2023-4042: Ghostscript: incomplete fix for cve-2020-16305

Status: published. Published: 2023-08-23. Updated: 2026-11-07.

A flaw was found in ghostscript. The fix for CVE-2020-16305 in ghostscript was not included in RHSA-2021:1852-06 advisory as it was claimed to be. This issue only affects the ghostscript package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

## Remediation

No remediation reported in collected sources

## Affected products and versions

- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (ghostscript): ≥ 0:9.27-11.el8; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (ghostscript): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (ghostscript): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (gimp:flatpak/ghostscript): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (ghostscript): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 5.5 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H; source: CNA: redhat

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.34% as of 2026-11-06; percentile 27.02%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable no; technical impact partial; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-125

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7053 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4042 (CNA: redhat; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1870257 (CNA: redhat)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2228151 (CNA: redhat; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7053 (ADP: CVE; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, x_transferred)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4042 (ADP: CVE; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT, x_transferred)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1870257 (ADP: CVE; x_transferred)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2228151 (ADP: CVE; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT, x_transferred)

## Provenance

- CNA: redhat: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-4042; retrieved 2026-11-07; source updated 2026-11-07

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2023-4042; retrieved 2026-11-07; source updated Not reported

Revision: ff30411356f90456ac1d10df733d17cb94ed646a43d30f70da6cfc3ad4332680

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2023-4042

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