CVE-2018-20106
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 · uneditedIn yast2-printer up to and including version 4.0.2 the SMB printer settings don't escape characters in passwords properly. If a password with backticks or simliar characters is supplied this allows for executing code as root. This requires tricking root to enter such a password in yast.
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 confidenceyast2-printer through version 4.0.2 has a command injection vulnerability in SMB printer settings where passwords are not properly escaped before being used in shell execution contexts. When root enters a password containing shell metacharacters like backticks, the unescaped characters can be interpreted as shell commands, allowing arbitrary code execution with root privileges.
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<= 4.0.2CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed yast2-printer versionRun 'rpm -q yast2-printer' or 'zypper se yast2-printer' to see the installed versionAffected if Version is 4.0.2 or lower (the package is vulnerable if unpatched)
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Verify SMB printer configuration existsLook for SMB printer configuration files in /etc/cups/ or check if any printers are configured with SMB/CIFS protocol using 'lpstat -v' or viewing /etc/cups/printers.confAffected if An SMB/CIFS printer queue is configured and active
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Inspect SMB password storageCheck /etc/cups/printers.conf or /etc/samba/smb.conf for stored SMB credentials, or use YaST printer module to view printer configurationAffected if An SMB printer is configured with a password that may contain shell metacharacters like backticks, $, ;, |, or &
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Check for recent command executionReview shell history for root user and audit logs (/var/log/audit/audit.log) for suspicious commands spawned around the time of printer configurationAffected if Unexpected commands appear in logs that could have been triggered by malicious password input
You are affected if yast2-printer version 4.0.2 or lower is installed AND an SMB printer has been configured with a password containing shell metacharacters, allowing potential command injection.
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 yast2-printer to a version newer than 4.0.2 which contains proper password escaping. Until patched, avoid entering passwords with shell special characters (backticks, $, ;, etc.) in SMB printer configuration.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20106 — 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-2018-20106 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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