Postscript printers open to password theft through 32-year-old flaw

HP, Lexmark and Dell printers could be hacked thanks to a 32-year-old flaw that allows an attacker to access and manipulate documents, steal passwords and shut down printers.

According to researchers at Ruhr University, around 20 models of printers are affected and these flaws are linked to common printing languages, such as PostScript and PJL.

“This vulnerability has presumably been present in every PostScript printer since 32 years as solely legitimate PostScript language constructs are abused,” said Jens Muller in an advisory. “The attack can be performed by anyone who can print, for example through USB or network. It can even be carried out by a malicious website, using advanced cross-site printing techniques in combination with a novel technique we call `CORS spoofing'.”