CUPS could be made to read files or run programs as an administrator.
It was discovered that users in the lpadmin group could modify certain CUPS configuration options to escalate privileges. An attacker could use this to potentially gain root privileges.
5 December 2012
A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:
CUPS could be made to read files or run programs as an administrator.
It was discovered that users in the lpadmin group could modify certain CUPS configuration options to escalate privileges. An attacker could use this to potentially gain root privileges.
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:
To update your system, please follow these instructions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades.
In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.
This update adds the new cups-files.conf configuration file for privileged CUPS settings. In certain customized environments, these settings may need to be manually moved to this new file. For more information, please see the updated documentation installed with this package and inspect the CUPS error log.
Vulmon