CVE-2026-34980

A flaw was found in OpenPrinting CUPS. An unauthorized client can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted print job to a shared PostScript queue without authentication. The server improperly handles the page-border value, allowing an attacker to embed and reparse malicious text as a trusted scheduler control record. This can lead to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the 'lp' user, potentially compromising the affected system.

This issue is classified as moderate severity primarily because:

• Affected Component: The vulnerability specifically affects the core cups daemon package (which handles the print scheduler and target queues) and does not affect the utility libraries (cups-libs).

• Conditions for Exploitation: Exploitation requires a network-exposed CUPS daemon (cupsd) configured with an active, shared PostScript target queue. A remote, unauthenticated attacker must be able to reach this daemon over the network and submit a crafted print job to the shared queue.

• Impact Limitations: While the flaw allows for remote command execution, the execution is strictly limited to utilizing existing binaries already present on the system. Furthermore, these commands run under the restricted privileges of the unprivileged service user (lp) rather than the root or administrative user, preventing direct, full system compromise.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.