Printing security vulnerabilities occur repeatedly. In 2021, PrintNightmare caused uncertainty in companies, followed by a security vulnerability in HP firmware. Lexmark printers are currently in the headlines of the IT media. Author Dirk Knop at Heise online, a renowned German news website, reports that a critical firmware vulnerability has been discovered in about 100 Lexmark printer models.
The warning came directly from Lexmark, according to the Heise article. The security gap in the firmware makes it possible for attackers to infiltrate the printer devices after an intrusion, it said. According to the author Jens Scharfenberg at another German news website, basictutorials, the vulnerability that has now become known threatens to compromise a device permanently. This is made possible by the fact that an attacker can now also rewrite the firmware itself. Although the vulnerability does not allow an intrusion, it should be rated as critical according to the manufacturer.
Which Printers Are Affected?
According to IT media, firmware patches are available for the 120 affected printer models, which can be viewed in this list published by Lexmark. The patches can be downloaded from Lexmark’s support website.
So affected businesses should update the firmware on their affected printers now without delay to avoid compromising the security of their systems.
You can download our free printer security checklist.