Re: Ghostscript 8.64 executes random code at startup

[paul.szabo () sydney edu au]

I guess this issue can be exploited remotely.

If /etc/mailcap uses gs, then we are done: neither -P- nor -dSAFER are
defaults.

My Debian /etc/mailcap uses gv, and gv knows to use -dSAFER. First
"feed" the victim a "bad" PS file named gs_res.ps or pdf_base.ps or
similar. No harm done yet. Then "feed" the victim any PS or PDF file:
quite likely the old file will have its original name, still in place,
in the same place as the new file: gv does not use -P- and our first
file will be used.

Would it help if I (or someone with actual knowledge) would put together
a proof-of-concept demo?

Cheers, Paul

Paul Szabo   psz () maths usyd edu au   http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/psz/
School of Mathematics and Statistics   University of Sydney    Australia