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CupsApplication

CVE-2015-1158

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-06-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The add_job function in scheduler/ipp.c in cupsd in CUPS before 2.0.3 performs incorrect free operations for multiple-value job-originating-host-name attributes, which allows remote attackers to trigger data corruption for reference-counted strings via a crafted (1) IPP_CREATE_JOB or (2) IPP_PRINT_JOB request, as demonstrated by replacing the configuration file and consequently executing arbitrary code.

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

A memory management vulnerability in the add_job function in scheduler/ipp.c in CUPS before version 2.0.3 allows remote attackers to trigger incorrect free operations on multiple-value job-originating-host-name attributes. This causes data corruption of reference-counted strings via crafted IPP_CREATE_JOB or IPP_PRINT_JOB requests, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution through configuration file replacement.

MitigationUpgrade to CUPS version 2.0.3 or later to remediate this vulnerability. If immediate upgrading is not possible, restrict access to IPP printing services from untrusted networks.

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
CupsApplication
Affected:<= 2.0.2

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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. Identify the installed CUPS version
    Run 'cups-config --version' or query your system's package manager (e.g., 'dpkg -l cups', 'rpm -q cups', or 'brew list --versions cups')
    Affected if The reported version is 2.0.2 or lower, indicating the vulnerable release
  2. Confirm CUPS daemon is running
    Check if the cupsd process is active using 'ps aux | grep cupsd' or 'systemctl status cups'
    Affected if CUPS is running and serving print requests, making the ipp.c vulnerability reachable
  3. Verify IPP listening status
    Inspect CUPS configuration in /etc/cups/cupsd.conf for 'Listen' directives and check if port 631/UDP is open using 'netstat -an | grep 631' or 'ss -tlnp | grep 631'
    Affected if IPP services are bound to accessible network interfaces, allowing remote attackers to send crafted IPP_CREATE_JOB or IPP_PRINT_JOB requests
  4. Check IPP job processing is enabled
    Review /etc/cups/cupsd.conf for relevant JobPrivateAccess, JobPrivateGroup, or Limit operations related to IPP job creation, and verify the server is not configured with 'SSL' or 'TLS' required for all operations
    Affected if IPP job submission is permitted without strong authentication or encryption, enabling the malformed attribute attack

Your environment is affected if CUPS version 2.0.2 or lower is installed and the CUPS daemon is running with IPP (port 631) exposed to network access, allowing remote attackers to send malicious IPP job requests.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.0.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to CUPS version 2.0.3 or later to remediate this vulnerability. If immediate upgrading is not possible, restrict access to IPP printing services from untrusted networks.

Recommended fix High confidence

CUPS 2.0.3 or later

  1. 1. Check the current installed CUPS version using: cups-config --version or rpm -q cups or dpkg -l cups
  2. 2. For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems: Run 'sudo apt-get update' then 'sudo apt-get install cups' to upgrade to the latest available version
  3. 3. For Red Hat/CentOS-based systems: Run 'sudo yum update cups' or 'sudo dnf update cups'
  4. 4. For SUSE-based systems: Run 'sudo zypper update cups'
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the new version using: cups-config --version (should show 2.0.3 or later)
  6. 6. Restart the CUPS service using: sudo systemctl restart cups (or sudo service cups restart)
  7. 7. Verify the service is running: sudo systemctl status cups

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Cups Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,420
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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-2015-1158 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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