Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain low-privilege CUPS account
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DeliveryPosition on adjacent network segment
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ExploitSubmit print request with case-manipulated username
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ExecutionBypass secondary ACL/attribute filter check
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ImpactRead restricted private print attributes
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Case sensitivity handling
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires all of the following: the attacker must be on the same network segment as the CUPS server (AV:A - not exploitable over the internet); the attacker must hold a valid low-privilege CUPS user account (PR:L); user interaction is required per the CVSS UI:R metric, likely meaning a legitimate user must have an active session or print job in progress; and the target CUPS deployment must be configured with username-based printer ACLs or private-attribute restrictions - the bypass is a no-op in deployments that do not use these features. Exploitation is limited to confidentiality only (C:L): an attacker cannot modify jobs, alter printer configuration, or cause denial of service through this vector. |
| Impact | The overall risk profile is low. CVSS 3.0 with AV:A constrains exploitation to attackers already on the same network segment as the CUPS server, ruling out internet-scale opportunistic attacks; even a mid-sized municipal IT team in sopot would face this threat only from internal or lateral-movement actors, not remote internet threats. PR:L confirms an authenticated session is required, and UI:R adds a further dependency on victim-side interaction. The sole impact is C:L - limited information disclosure of private print attributes - with no integrity or availability consequence. No KEV listing, no POC, and no EPSS data were provided, suggesting this is not under active exploitation. The real-world risk is further bounded by the configuration dependency: ACL bypass is only meaningful where printer ACLs or private-attribute restrictions are actually configured, which many CUPS deployments do not use in a security-relevant way. Environments that rely on CUPS username-based ACLs to enforce confidentiality of sensitive print jobs (legal, healthcare) face slightly higher practical risk than default installations. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with a low-privilege CUPS account on the same network segment crafts a print request in which their username is submitted with altered casing (e.g., 'Admin' instead of 'admin') to a printer whose ACL is configured to restrict that user. The case-insensitive comparison in the secondary ACL validation path fails to reject the request, granting read access to private print job attributes - such as document names or job metadata - that should be filtered for that identity. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 09, 2026
Case-insensitive username comparisons in two code paths of the CUPS scheduler - printer ACL validation and private-attribute filtering - allow an authenticated adjacent-network attacker to bypass username-based access controls in configurations that rely on those ACLs. The bypass exposes private print attributes to users who should be excluded by ACL policy. Affected deployments span Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 through 10, Red Hat Hardened Images, and OpenShift Container Platform 4. No public exploit or active exploitation has been identified at time of analysis, consistent with the low CVSS base score of 3.0.
RemediationAI
Patch available per vendor advisory - consult the Red Hat CVE page at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-87876 for errata packages specific to your RHEL version (6, 7, 8, 9, 10), and review https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups/security/advisories/GHSA-r8jp-q6fh-g5r2 for upstream CUPS fix commits; a specific patched release version is not independently confirmed from the available data. As a compensating control while patching, administrators can replace username-based printer ACLs with IP-address or group-membership controls, which are not affected by the case comparison flaw. Alternatively, restricting cupsd network access to loopback or authenticated VPN segments eliminates the AV:A exposure entirely. Disabling private-attribute exposure via the CUPS configuration directive for sensitive printers is a targeted mitigation for the attribute-filtering bypass. Note that restricting network access may impact legitimate remote printing workflows.
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Technical ContextAI · show details
CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), maintained by OpenPrinting, implements a scheduler daemon (cupsd) that enforces printer-level ACLs and filters private job/printer attributes based on authenticated usernames. CWE-178 (Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity) describes the root cause: two separate code paths in the scheduler perform username comparisons using case-insensitive logic rather than a canonical normalized form, creating a mismatch between how the authorization subsystem identifies users and how these secondary checks validate them. An attacker supplying a username that differs only in case from a blocked or restricted identity can slip through these secondary gates. Affected CPEs cover the CUPS packages shipped in RHEL 6-10, RHEL Hardened Images, and OpenShift Container Platform 4. The upstream advisory is tracked as GHSA-r8jp-q6fh-g5r2 in the OpenPrinting/cups GitHub security advisories.
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Severity by source
AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Adjacent vector for network print access, low privileges for authenticated CUPS user, no integrity or availability impact - only limited attribute disclosure.
Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).
CVSS VectorVendor: redhat
DescriptionCVE.org
Two case-insensitive comparisons on request-derived usernames outside the main authorization path in CUPS's scheduler (printer ACL validation and private-attribute filtering) could allow bypass of username-based access controls in certain configurations.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
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