dbcve.org
Printer FirmwareOperating system · Lexmark

CVE-2016-1896

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-01-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Race condition in the initialization process on Lexmark printers with firmware ATL before ATL.02.049, CB before CB.02.049, PP before PP.02.049, and YK before YK.02.049 allows remote attackers to bypass authentication by leveraging incorrect detection of the security-jumper status.

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 race condition in the initialization process of Lexmark printers allows remote attackers to bypass authentication by incorrectly detecting the security-jumper status during startup. This pre-authentication bypass affects multiple firmware lines (ATL, CB, PP, YK) below specific version thresholds.

MitigationUpgrade Lexmark printer firmware to version ATL.02.049, CB.02.049, PP.02.049, YK.02.049 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to printer management interfaces.

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
Printer FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= cb.02.048<= atl.02.048<= yk.02.048<= pp.02.048

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 Lexmark printer model
    Access the printer's web interface (embedded web server) or check the device label to confirm it is a Lexmark printer and note the model number.
    Affected if Device is not a Lexmark printer - not applicable to this CVE.
  2. Retrieve firmware version
    Log into the printer web interface and navigate to the 'Firmware' or 'General' settings page, or use SNMP to query the printer (OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.43.5.1.1.16.1). Record the exact firmware version string.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve firmware version - further investigation may be required.
  3. Identify firmware line
    Examine the firmware version string. The prefix indicates the firmware line: 'cb' = CB line, 'atl' = ATL line, 'yk' = YK line, 'pp' = PP line. For example, version 'cb.02.048' belongs to the CB line.
    Affected if Firmware version does not match any of the four affected lines (ATL, CB, PP, YK) - not affected.
  4. Compare against affected version thresholds
    Compare your installed firmware version to the affected thresholds: CB line: <= cb.02.048; ATL line: <= atl.02.048; YK line: <= yk.02.048; PP line: <= pp.02.048. Check if your version is at or below the threshold for your identified line.
    Affected if Firmware version is at or below the threshold for the detected line - printer is affected by CVE-2016-1896.

A Lexmark printer is affected if its firmware version (CB, ATL, YK, or PP line) is at or below 02.048 for that respective line.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Lexmark printer firmware to version ATL.02.049, CB.02.049, PP.02.049, YK.02.049 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to printer management interfaces.

Recommended fix High confidence

Firmware version 02.049 for the respective model family (ATL.02.049, CB.02.049, PP.02.049, or YK.02.049)

  1. 1. Identify the Lexmark printer model to determine the firmware family (CB, ATL, PP, or YK).
  2. 2. Visit support.lexmark.com and navigate to the Drivers & Downloads section for the specific printer model.
  3. 3. Download the firmware update version ATL.02.049 (for ATL models), CB.02.049 (for CB models), PP.02.049 (for PP models), or YK.02.049 (for YK models).
  4. 4. Access the printer's web management interface or use Lexmark's firmware update utility.
  5. 5. Upload and apply the firmware update following the on-screen instructions.
  6. 6. After the update completes, verify the firmware version has been upgraded to the patched release.

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

Fix this in Printer Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2016-1896 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