CVE-2024-29511
Description
A vulnerability was found in Ghostscript. When Tesseract is used for Optical Character Recognition (OCR), a directory traversal issue allows arbitrary file reading and writing of error messages to arbitrary files via the OCRLanguage. This issue causes an arbitrary file read/write through the Tesseract configuration.
Statement
The CVE-2024-29511 vulnerability in Ghostscript, when used with Tesseract for OCR, is classified as a moderate severity issue rather than a important one due to its limited exploitability and scope of impact. The vulnerability primarily allows for directory traversal to read and write error messages to arbitrary files, which can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive information. However, it does not facilitate remote code execution (RCE) or direct system compromise. Exploitation requires specific conditions, such as Ghostscript being compiled with Tesseract support and the attacker having the capability to supply crafted Postscript files. The inherent need for precise conditions and lack of direct execution capabilities mitigate the overall risk, rendering the issue moderate rather than important.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.4 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
The attacker may be able to create or overwrite critical files that are used to execute code, such as programs or libraries.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Files or Directories
The attacker may be able to overwrite or create critical files, such as programs, libraries, or important data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, appending a new account at the end of a password file may allow an attacker to bypass authentication.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories
The attacker may be able read the contents of unexpected files and expose sensitive data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, by reading a password file, the attacker could conduct brute force password guessing attacks in order to break into an account on the system.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
The attacker may be able to overwrite, delete, or corrupt unexpected critical files such as programs, libraries, or important data. This may prevent the product from working at all and in the case of protection mechanisms such as authentication, it has the potential to lock out product users.
Frequently Asked Questions
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