X
Tech

HP patches severe code execution bug in enterprise printers

The vulnerability could be exploited to perform remote code execution.
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer
screen-shot-2017-11-23-at-09-56-57.jpg
HP

HP has issued firmware patches to fix a security flaw which allowed attackers to perform remote code execution attacks on enterprise-grade printers.

FoxGlove Security researchers issued an advisory disclosing the technical details of the bug, CVE-2017-2750, earlier this week.

The team tested out HP's PageWide Enterprise Color MFP 586 and the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553 models, and found they were able to reverse engineer ".BDL" (bundle) extension files found in HP's firmware.

After reverse engineering the code, the researchers were able to craft and upload crafted firmware files to discover where signature validation was taking place in order to bypass these protections.

Due to "insufficient solution DLL signature validation," FoxGlove was then able to use this information to create malware specifically designed to exploit the printer ranges' security weaknesses leading to remote code execution.

The security flaw was reported to HP on August 21st, 2017, is rated 8.1 on the CVSS scale.

According to HP's security advisory, the vulnerability impacts a wide range of business-ready printers, including the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M651, HP Color LaserJet M680, HP LaserJet Enterprise Flow MFP M631, HP PageWide Enterprise Color X556, and many others.

Speaking to ThreatPost, the tech giant said that HP is "aware of the issue" and the patch is now ready for deployment.

"Updated systems are not exposed to these vulnerabilities and customers are encouraged to deploy the fix," HP said.

A firmware update has now been released to resolve the bug, which can be downloaded manually from HP through the firmware search tool.

FoxGlove's project has been posted on GitHub.

Smart devices for the home and the office

Previous and related coverage

Editorial standards