Critical Linux CUPS Printing System Flaws Could Allow Remote Command Execution
A new set of security vulnerabilities has been disclosed in the OpenPrinting Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) on Linux systems that could permit remote command execution under certain conditions.
“A remote unauthenticated attacker can silently replace existing printers’ (or install new ones) IPP urls with a malicious one, resulting in arbitrary command execution (on the computer) when a print job is started (from that computer),” security researcher Simone Margaritelli said.
CUPS is a standards-based, open-source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, including ArchLinux, Debian, Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), ChromeOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, openSUSE, and SUSE Linux.
A net consequence of these shortcomings is that they could be fashioned into an exploit chain that allows an attacker to create a malicious, fake printing device on a network-exposed Linux system running CUPS and trigger remote code execution upon sending a print job.
