Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2021-3781?

Affected: Ghostscript (Artifex) versions 9.50, 9.52, 9.53.3, 9.54.0, >= ghostpdl 9.55.0; Fedora (Fedoraproject) versions 34; rootio-ghostscript, among others. The full list is in the CVE brief.

Is CVE-2021-3781 being exploited in the wild?

It is not listed in any known-exploited vulnerabilities catalog.

Is CVE-2021-3781 in the CISA KEV catalog?

No, it is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Is there a public exploit for CVE-2021-3781?

No public exploit code is known.

Is there a fix for CVE-2021-3781?

Fixed versions are available, including Ghostscript 9.50~dfsg-5ubuntu4.3, Ghostscript 9.52-155.1, Ghostscript 9.52-23.42.1.

How urgently should CVE-2021-3781 be patched?

Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is very likely to be exploited soon.

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Vulnerability Intelligence

CVE-2021-3781

Critical

A trivial sandbox (enabled with the -dSAFER option) escape flaw was found in the ghostscript interpreter by injecting a specially crafted pipe command.

Published Feb 16, 2022 · Updated Aug 4, 2026 · Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2021-3781, DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3781, DSA-4972-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3044-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3180-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-3781, USN-5075-1

Key Facts

Patch immediately

CVE-2021-3781 is a critical-severity vulnerability (CVSS 9.9 v3.1) affecting Ghostscript (Artifex), Fedora (Fedoraproject), rootio-ghostscript and 7 more products.
It is not listed in any known-exploited vulnerabilities catalog. No public exploit code is known.
EPSS estimates a 84% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
Fixed versions are available, including Ghostscript 9.50~dfsg-5ubuntu4.3, Ghostscript 9.52-155.1, Ghostscript 9.52-23.42.1.
Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is very likely to be exploited soon.

CVSS v3.1

9.9

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS (30-day exploit likelihood)

84%

Higher than 99.6% of all scored CVEs

Exploited in the wild

No known

Not in a known-exploited catalog

Public exploit code

None known

Get the full CVE-2021-3781 brief as a PDF

Every affected product and fixed release, exploitation status and a first 24 hours response checklist, emailed within minutes.

Description

A trivial sandbox (enabled with the -dSAFER option) escape flaw was found in the ghostscript interpreter by injecting a specially crafted pipe command. This flaw allows a specially crafted document to execute arbitrary commands on the system in the context of the ghostscript interpreter. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability.

Affected Products

253 affected entries in total

Product	Affected versions	Fixed in
GhostscriptArtifex	9.50, 9.52, 9.53.3, 9.54.0, >= ghostpdl 9.55.0	9.54.0-3
FedoraFedoraproject	34	n/a
rootio-ghostscriptrootio	See advisory	9.54-r1
ghostscript-develsuse	See advisory	9.52-23.42.1
ghostscript-mini-develsuse	See advisory	9.52-lp152.2.7.1

5 more affected products in the full CVE brief

Patched Releases

Ghostscript

9.50~dfsg-5ubuntu4.3, 9.52-155.1, 9.52-23.42.1, 9.52-lp152.2.7.1, 9.53.3-r1, 9.53.3~dfsg-7+deb11u1, 9.53.3~dfsg-8, 9.54-r1, 9.54.0-2.2, 9.54.0-3, 9.54.0-r2, 9.54.0~dfsg1-0ubuntu2

ghostscript-devel

9.52-155.1, 9.52-23.42.1, 9.52-lp152.2.7.1, 9.54.0-2.2

ghostscript-mini

9.52-lp152.2.7.1

ghostscript-mini-devel

9.52-lp152.2.7.1

ghostscript-x11

9.52-155.1, 9.52-23.42.1, 9.52-lp152.2.7.1, 9.54.0-2.2

libspectre

0.2.7-12.12.1, 0.2.8-3.12.1

libspectre-devel

0.2.7-12.12.1, 0.2.8-3.12.1, 0.2.8-lp152.4.3.1

libspectre1

0.2.7-12.12.1, 0.2.8-3.12.1, 0.2.8-lp152.4.3.1

rootio-ghostscript

9.53.3~dfsg-8, 9.54-r1

Timeline

Publicly disclosed
Feb 16, 2022
Last updated
Aug 4, 2026

Weakness Type

CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

References

advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1184123
advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1190381
advisoryhttps://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-3781
advisoryGLSA-202211-11
advisoryhttps://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-3781

8 more references in the full CVE brief

FAQ

Common Questions.

A trivial sandbox (enabled with the -dSAFER option) escape flaw was found in the ghostscript interpreter by injecting a specially crafted pipe command.
Affected: Ghostscript (Artifex) versions 9.50, 9.52, 9.53.3, 9.54.0, >= ghostpdl 9.55.0; Fedora (Fedoraproject) versions 34; rootio-ghostscript, among others. The full list is in the CVE brief.
It is not listed in any known-exploited vulnerabilities catalog.
No, it is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
No public exploit code is known.
Fixed versions are available, including Ghostscript 9.50~dfsg-5ubuntu4.3, Ghostscript 9.52-155.1, Ghostscript 9.52-23.42.1.
Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is very likely to be exploited soon.

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