# CVE-2023-34241: CUPS vulnerable to use-after-free in cupsdAcceptClient()

> A use-after-free in CUPS allows attackers to crash the service or potentially execute code when specific logging and network configurations are enabled.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Jun 2023
- **Updated:** 13 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2023-34241, AZL-37074, AZL-37099, CLSA-2023-1689008452, CLSA-2023-1689008977, CLSA-2023-1689258794, CLSA-2023-1691082968, CLSA-2024-1733245575, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-34241, DLA-3476-1, GHSA-qjgh-5hcq-5f25, MGASA-2023-0223, OESA-2023-1410, SUSE-SU-2023:2616-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-34241, USN-6184-1, USN-6184-2, openSUSE-SU-2024:13017-1

## What is CVE-2023-34241?

CVE-2023-34241 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Apple Macos, published on 22 Jun 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenPrinting CUPS is a standards-based, open source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. Starting in version 2.0.0 and prior to version 2.4.6, CUPS logs data of free memory to the logging service AFTER the connection has been closed, when it should have logged the data right before. This is a use-after-free bug that impacts the entire cupsd process.

The exact cause of this issue is the function `httpClose(con->http)` being called in `scheduler/client.c`. The problem is that httpClose always, provided its argument is not null, frees the pointer at the end of the call, only for cupsdLogClient to pass the pointer to httpGetHostname. This issue happens in function `cupsdAcceptClient` if LogLevel is warn or higher and in two scenarios: there is a double-lookup for the IP Address (HostNameLookups Double is set in `cupsd.conf`) which fails to resolve, or if CUPS is compiled with TCP wrappers and the connection is refused by rules from `/etc/hosts.allow` and `/etc/hosts.deny`.

Version 2.4.6 has a patch for this issue.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-34241?

It affects 4 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `cups` | SUSE:Enterprise Storage 7 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Enterprise Storage 7.1 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP5 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP4 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Manager Proxy 4.2 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | SUSE:Manager Server 4.2 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | openSUSE:Leap 15.4 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | openSUSE:Leap 15.5 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | openSUSE:Leap Micro 5.3 | All versions | 2.2.7-150000.3.46.1 |
| `cups` | openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 2.4.2-6.1 |

Products: Apple Macos, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Openprinting Cups.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-34241?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-34241 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-34241 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Macos

- [CVE-2026-65400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-65400/): Apple macOS Improper Authentication (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-44146](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-44146/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-44148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-44148/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-38586](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38586/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-40455](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40455/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-34241 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-34241 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Apple Macos, published on 22 Jun 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-34241 exists.

Affected product: Apple Macos. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34241/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34241/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34241
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34241
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-34241

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34241/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.