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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2011-2923

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
foomatic-rip filter, all versions, used insecurely creates temporary files for storage of PostScript data by rendering the data when the debug mode was enabled. This flaw may be exploited by a local attacker to conduct symlink attacks by overwriting arbitrary files accessible with the privileges of the user running the foomatic-rip universal print filter.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The foomatic-rip print filter creates temporary files insecurely when debug mode is enabled, storing PostScript data in a manner susceptible to symlink attacks. A local attacker can exploit this by creating symbolic links in the temp directory to overwrite arbitrary files accessible with the privileges of the user running the foomatic-rip filter.

MitigationDisable debug mode in foomatic-rip configuration and ensure the filter runs with minimal user privileges; also restrict permissions on temporary directories used by the filter.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0= 10.0
Foomatic FiltersApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if foomatic-rip is installed
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep foomatic' on Debian systems or 'rpm -qa | grep foomatic' on RPM-based systems to see if the foomatic-rip package or related foomatic packages are present
    Affected if foomatic-rip or foomatic-filters package is installed on the system
  2. Locate the foomatic-rip configuration file
    Check common configuration paths such as /etc/foomatic/filter.conf, /etc/foomatic/rip.conf, or look in /etc/cups/ for printer configurations that reference foomatic-rip
    Affected if A foomatic-rip configuration file exists on the system
  3. Verify if debug mode is enabled
    Open the foomatic-rip configuration file and search for a debug, debuglevel, or verbose setting. Look for values like 'debug', 'yes', '1', or any non-zero numeric value that enables debugging
    Affected if Debug mode is explicitly enabled in the foomatic-rip configuration file (value set to debug, yes, 1, or similar)
  4. Check the temporary directory used by foomatic-rip
    Examine the foomatic-rip configuration for a tmpdir, temp, or similar setting. Common paths include /tmp, /var/tmp, or /var/spool/cups/tmp. Verify permissions with 'ls -la' on that directory
    Affected if The configured temp directory is world-writable or writable by other local users (permissions 1777 or similar)
  5. Look for suspicious symlinks in temp directories
    Run 'find /tmp -type l -ls' or check the specific temp directory configured for foomatic-rip for any symbolic links that may have been created by an attacker
    Affected if Unexpected symbolic links exist in the temp directory that point to sensitive files outside the temp directory

A system is affected if foomatic-rip is installed with debug mode enabled and the temp directory it uses is writable by other local users, allowing a symlink attack to overwrite arbitrary files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Disable debug mode in foomatic-rip configuration and ensure the filter runs with minimal user privileges; also restrict permissions on temporary directories used by the filter.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-2923 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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