CVE-2016-8602
HIGHEPSS 87th pctlDescription
The .sethalftone5 function in psi/zht2.c in Ghostscript before 9.21 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted Postscript document that calls .sethalftone5 with an empty operand stack.
How to fix
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Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 87% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-704 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-41646 | Critical | 9.8 | 52% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-5115 | High | 8.8 | 26% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-12453 | High | 7.5 | 24% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-3106 | High | 8.8 | 22% | - | - |
| CVE-2018-3843 | High | 8.8 | 22% | - | - |
| CVE-2018-5007 | High | 8.8 | 18% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2016-8602?
Published advisories record a fix for 5 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2016-8602 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2016-8602 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 3.2% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 87% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2016-8602?
CVE-2016-8602 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2016-8602 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for ghostscript (Debian), ghostscript (Ubuntu), ghostscript-x (Ubuntu), libgs9 (Ubuntu), and 1 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-06-17.