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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2011-2924

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.0.12 or later.
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 v4.0.12 and prior 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 · high confidence

The foomatic-rip print filter versions 4.0.12 and prior creates temporary files insecurely when debug mode is enabled, storing PostScript rendering data in predictable or improperly protected locations. A local attacker can exploit this via symlink attacks to overwrite arbitrary files accessible with the privileges of the user running the filter.

MitigationDisable debug mode in production printing environments and upgrade to a patched version of foomatic-rip that uses secure temporary file creation methods (e.g., mkstemp with O_EXCL, or a dedicated secure temp directory with restricted permissions).

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 14= 15
Foomatic FiltersApplication
Affected:<= 4.0.12

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-based systems or 'rpm -qa | grep foomatic' on RHEL/Fedora-based systems. Alternatively, check for the binary at /usr/bin/foomatic-rip or examine CUPS printer filters.
    Affected if foomatic-rip is not present on the system, then not affected.
  2. Determine foomatic-rip version
    Run 'foomatic-rip --version' or check the package version via your system's package manager (dpkg -l foomatic-rip or rpm -qi foomatic).
    Affected if Version is 4.0.12 or lower, or the exact version cannot be determined but foomatic-rip is present, the vulnerability may exist.
  3. Identify if debug mode is enabled
    Examine the foomatic-rip configuration files in /etc/foomatic/, the CUPS printer configuration in /etc/cups/printers.conf, or any PPD files in /etc/cups/ppd/. Look for debug-related settings or command-line debug flags.
    Affected if Debug mode is enabled in any printer configuration or wrapper script. If debug mode is disabled, the vulnerability is not exploitable.
  4. Verify temporary file handling
    Check the permissions on the temporary directory used by foomatic-rip (commonly /tmp or /var/tmp). Inspect any scripts or wrapper calls that invoke foomatic-rip to see if they set TMPDIR or use predictable temp file names.
    Affected if Temporary files are being created in a world-writable directory with predictable names, indicating insecure temp file handling.

The system is affected if foomatic-rip version 4.0.12 or lower is installed AND debug mode is enabled, allowing insecure temporary file creation that could be exploited via symlink attacks.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.0.12
Interim mitigation

Disable debug mode in production printing environments and upgrade to a patched version of foomatic-rip that uses secure temporary file creation methods (e.g., mkstemp with O_EXCL, or a dedicated secure temp directory with restricted permissions).

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2011-2924 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data