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Uncontrolled Search Path (DLL Hijack)Weakness · CWE-427

CVE-2026-6645

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v4.0 Published 2026-06-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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
An insecure process execution vulnerability exists in the pc-printer-updater.exe component of the PaperCut Print Deploy Client for Windows. The application, which typically operates with high-level system privileges, attempts to perform an internal validation check by invoking a secondary system utility using an unqualified file reference. Because the application does not specify an absolute path to this utility, it relies on the operating system's default search order to locate the executable. Under specific conditions, a local attacker with the ability to modify directories within the system's search path could plant a malicious binary that mimics the expected utility. This could result in the malicious code being executed with SYSTEM privileges, leading to a full compromise of the affected host.

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

PaperCut Print Deploy Client for Windows (pc-printer-updater.exe) suffers from an insecure process execution vulnerability where the application invokes a secondary system utility without specifying an absolute path. Because it uses an unqualified file reference, Windows resolves the utility via its default DLL/EXE search order. A local attacker with write access to any directory in the system PATH could place a malicious executable that gets executed with SYSTEM privileges, achieving full host compromise.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patch to PaperCut Print Deploy Client which must include absolute path specification for all external utility invocations, eliminating reliance on the Windows search order.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
Authentication
X
User interaction
P
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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. Confirm PaperCut Print Deploy Client installation
    Locate pc-printer-updater.exe in the system - check Program Files folders, PaperCut installation directory, or search for the file using Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter pc-printer-updater.exe
    Affected if The file pc-printer-updater.exe is found on the system
  2. Identify installed version
    Right-click pc-printer-updater.exe, select Properties, then view the Details tab for Product Version, or run: (Get-Item 'C:\path\to\pc-printer-updater.exe').VersionInfo
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is prior to vendor patch date
  3. Verify the process runs with elevated privileges
    Check if the pc-printer-updater service or process runs as SYSTEM, NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM, or other elevated account - use Task Scheduler, Services console, or Process Explorer
    Affected if The process runs with SYSTEM or Administrator privileges
  4. Enumerate PATH directories and their permissions
    Run 'echo $env:PATH' in PowerShell, then for each directory use Get-Acl to check Write permissions for non-admin users, or use icacls.exe on each PATH folder
    Affected if Any directory in the system PATH is writable by a low-privilege user or attacker
  5. Scan PATH directories for suspicious executables
    List all .exe files in each PATH directory and check for unexpected or newly created executables not part of standard system tools, using Get-ChildItem on each PATH folder
    Affected if Unexpected or unauthorized executables exist in PATH directories

A user is affected if PaperCut Print Deploy Client is installed with pc-printer-updater.exe running as SYSTEM and any directory in the system PATH is writable by an attacker.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patch to PaperCut Print Deploy Client which must include absolute path specification for all external utility invocations, eliminating reliance on the Windows search order.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2026-6645 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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