What is CVE-2002-1569?

CVE-2002-1569 is a vulnerability in Ghostview. Published 2003-11-17.

Is CVE-2002-1569 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in Ghostview

CVE-2002-1569

gv 3.5.8, and possibly earlier versions, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in the filename for (1) a PDF file or (2) a gzip file.

Published 2003-11-17 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.024 (83.2th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 83rd percentile — 83.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.023 · newest: 0.024 · change: +0.001

Affected products

Ghostview — versions 1.3, 1.4, 1.4.1
Gv — versions 2.7.6, 2.7b1, 2.7b2

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.securityfocus.com/bid/5840 (Patch, vdb-entry, Vendor Advisory)
www.epita.fr/~bevand_m/asa/asa-0000 (Exploit, Patch, Vendor Advisory)
archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-10/0033.html (mailing-list)
marc.info/ (mailing-list)
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/10231 (vdb-entry)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2002-1569?: CVE-2002-1569 is a vulnerability in Ghostview. Published 2003-11-17.
Is CVE-2002-1569 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.