CVE-2023-6006
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability potentially allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of PaperCut NG. An attacker must have local write access to the C Drive. In addition, Print Archiving must be enabled or the attacker needs to encounter a misconfigured system. This vulnerability does not apply to PaperCut NG installs that have Print Archiving enabled and configured as per the recommended set up procedure. This specific flaw exists within the pc-pdl-to-image process. The process loads an executable from an unsecured location. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM Note: This CVE has been rescored with a "Privileges Required (PR)" rating of low, and “Attack Complexity (AC)” rating of low, reflecting the worst-case scenario where an Administrator has granted local login access to standard network users on the host server.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability in PaperCut NG where the pc-pdl-to-image process loads an executable from an unsecured location. An attacker with local write access to the C Drive can plant a malicious executable that gets executed by the SYSTEM-level process when Print Archiving is enabled or the system is misconfigured.
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< 23.0.1< 23.0.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Identify PaperCut versionLocate and inspect the installed PaperCut application version - check the application itself, the installation directory, or the Windows Programs and Features listAffected if The installed version is PaperCut MF or PaperCut NG and the version is below 23.0.1
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Verify Print Archiving statusCheck whether Print Archiving is enabled in the PaperCut administration console or configuration settingsAffected if Print Archiving is currently enabled on the system
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Examine pc-pdl-to-image configurationLocate and inspect the configuration file or settings that control where the pc-pdl-to-image process loads executables fromAffected if The configuration points to an unsecured directory location accessible by local users
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Check directory permissionsReview write permissions on directories from which pc-pdl-to-image loads executables - verify if standard users have write access to these pathsAffected if Any directory used by pc-pdl-to-image for executable loading is writable by non-privileged local users
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Scan for unexpected executablesSearch common locations where pc-pdl-to-image loads executables for any unfamiliar or recently added executable filesAffected if Suspicious or unexpected executable files exist in directories accessed by the pc-pdl-to-image process
You are affected if running PaperCut MF or NG below version 23.0.1 AND Print Archiving is enabled OR the pc-pdl-to-image configuration allows loading from a directory writable by local users.
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.
dbcve · scoped23.0.1
Ensure Print Archiving is properly configured per vendor recommendations, restrict local write access to directories from which pc-pdl-to-image loads executables, and apply vendor patches when available.
PaperCut NG/MF version 23.0.1 or later
- 1. Check current PaperCut version by accessing the PaperCut admin console or checking the installation directory for version information
- 2. Create a complete backup of the PaperCut database and configuration files before proceeding with the upgrade
- 3. Download PaperCut MF or NG version 23.0.1 or later from the official PaperCut website (www.papercut.com)
- 4. Stop the PaperCut services to ensure no active print jobs are interrupted during the upgrade
- 5. Run the installer for version 23.0.1 or later, following the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade
- 6. After installation completes, verify the pc-pdl-to-image process no longer loads executables from unsecured locations by reviewing the configuration
- 7. Start the PaperCut services and verify the application runs correctly
- 8. Confirm the upgraded version number matches 23.0.1 or higher in the admin console
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-6006 — 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-2023-6006 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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