Skip to content
Noroxi
CVE-2009-3553· NVD / CVE Program· CNA redhat

Use-after-free vulnerability in the abstract file-descriptor handling interface in the cupsdDoSelect function in scheduler/select.c in the s

Use-after-free vulnerability in the abstract file-descriptor handling interface in the cupsdDoSelect function in scheduler/select.c in the scheduler in cupsd in CUPS 1.3.7 and 1.3.10 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash or hang) via a client disconnection during listing of a large number of print jobs, related to improperly maintaining a reference count. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Nov 19, 2009
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
3.9% · 90th percentile
Follow this CVE

Sign in to follow · You’ll be notified if a followed record enters KEV, gets an exploit or is updated.

Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 3.9%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
applecups
applemac os x
applemac os x server
fedoraprojectfedora
canonicalubuntu linux
debiandebian linux
redhatenterprise linux

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • apple cups1.3.10
  • apple cups1.3.7
  • apple mac os xbefore 10.5.8
  • apple mac os x10.6.0 and later · before 10.6.2
  • apple mac os x serverbefore 10.5.8
  • apple mac os x server10.6.0 and later · before 10.6.2
  • canonical ubuntu linux6.06
  • canonical ubuntu linux8.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux8.10
  • canonical ubuntu linux9.04
  • canonical ubuntu linux9.10
  • debian debian linux5.0
  • fedoraproject fedora10
  • redhat enterprise linux5.0

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12cupsbefore 1.4.2-41.4.2-4
Debian:5.0cupsbefore 1.3.8-1+lenny91.3.8-1+lenny9
openSUSE:Tumbleweedcupsbefore 2.1.3-2.32.1.3-2.3
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::clientcups-libsbefore 1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.41:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::clientcups-lpdbefore 1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.41:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstationcupsbefore 1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.41:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstationcups-debuginfobefore 1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.41:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstationcups-develbefore 1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.41:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4

Same product

apple: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2008-3641The Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language (HPGL) filter in CUPS before 1.3.9 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted pen w
    47Plan
  • CVE-2008-0053Multiple buffer overflows in the HP-GL/2-to-PostScript filter in CUPS before 1.3.6 might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code vi
    42Plan
  • CVE-2010-2941ipp.c in cupsd in CUPS 1.4.4 and earlier does not properly allocate memory for attribute values with invalid string data types, which allows
    41Plan
  • CVE-2008-5184The web interface (cgi-bin/admin.c) in CUPS before 1.3.8 uses the guest username when a user is not logged on to the web server, which makes
    41Plan
  • CVE-2012-6094cups (Common Unix Printing System) 'Listen localhost:631' option not honored correctly which could provide unauthorized access to the system
    40Plan
  • CVE-2004-2154CUPS before 1.1.21rc1 treats a Location directive in cupsd.conf as case sensitive, which allows attackers to bypass intended ACLs via a prin
    40Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:cups1.4.2-4 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:cups2.1.3-2.3 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:cups1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstationPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:cups-debuginfo1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstationPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:cups-devel1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::client_workstationPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:cups-libs1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::clientPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:cups-lpd1:1.3.7-11.el5_4.4 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::clientPackage registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

c
free(dev->buf);/* ... another thread is still running ... */process(dev->buf);

Fixed

c
lock(&dev->lock);free(dev->buf);dev->buf = NULL;unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records