CVE-2012-4510
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 · uneditedcups-pk-helper before 0.2.3 does not properly wrap the (1) cupsGetFile and (2) cupsPutFile function calls, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to read or overwrite sensitive files using CUPS resources.
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 confidencecups-pk-helper before 0.2.3 lacks proper input validation when wrapping the cupsGetFile and cupsPutFile CUPS API functions, allowing attackers to potentially read or overwrite arbitrary files on the system through specially crafted CUPS resource requests.
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<= 0.2.2= 0.0.1= 0.0.2= 0.0.3= 0.0.4= 0.1.0= 0.1.1= 0.1.2= 0.1.3= 0.2.0= 0.2.1CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if cups-pk-helper is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep cups-pk-helper' (RHEL/Fedora) or 'dpkg -l | grep cups-pk-helper' (Debian/Ubuntu)Affected if The package is present on the system
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Determine the installed versionRun 'rpm -q cups-pk-helper --queryformat "%{VERSION}\n"' or 'dpkg -s cups-pk-helper | grep Version'Affected if The version is 0.2.2 or lower, or matches 0.0.1, 0.0.2, 0.0.3, 0.0.4, 0.1.0, 0.1.1, 0.1.2, 0.1.3, 0.2.0, or 0.2.1
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Verify cups-pk-helper service is enabledCheck for cups-pk-helper processes or systemd services: 'ps aux | grep cups-pk-helper' or 'systemctl list-units | grep cups-pk-helper'Affected if The service is actively running and exposing the vulnerable API wrappers
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Inspect polkit policy for cups-pk-helperExamine /usr/share/polkit-1/actions/ or /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/ for cups-pk-helper policies, looking for rules that grant org.opensuse.cupspkhelper.file.* actionsAffected if Polkit policies permit unrestricted cupsGetFile or cupsPutFile operations without path sanitization checks
The system is affected if cups-pk-helper version 0.2.2 or lower is installed AND the service is active AND polkit policies allow the vulnerable CUPS file operations.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade to cups-pk-helper 0.2.3 or later, which implements proper path sanitization for CUPS file operations. Until patched, restrict polkit authorization policies for the affected helper.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,848.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4510 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-4510 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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