# CVE-2026-39316: CUPS has a use-after-free in `cupsdDeleteTemporaryPrinters` via dangling subscription pointer

> A use-after-free in CUPS allows attackers to crash the daemon or potentially execute code via heap grooming.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 7 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 9 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2026-39316, AZL-81935, BELL-CVE-2026-39316, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-39316, ECHO-2ca9-f843-b23e, GHSA-pjv5-prqp-46rg, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-39316, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-39316, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-39316

## What is CVE-2026-39316?

CVE-2026-39316 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in OpenPrinting cups, published on 7 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenPrinting CUPS is an open source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. In versions 2.4.16 and prior, a use-after-free vulnerability exists in the CUPS scheduler (cupsd) when temporary printers are automatically deleted. cupsdDeleteTemporaryPrinters() in scheduler/printers.c calls cupsdDeletePrinter() without first expiring subscriptions that reference the printer, leaving cupsd_subscription_t.dest as a dangling pointer to freed heap memory. The dangling pointer is subsequently dereferenced at multiple code sites, causing a crash (denial of service) of the cupsd daemon. With heap grooming, this can be leveraged for code execution.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-39316?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openprinting Cups.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-39316?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-39316 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-39316 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in OpenPrinting cups

- [CVE-2025-58060](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-58060/): cups has Authentication bypass with AuthType Negotiate (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2026-34978](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-34978/): Path traversal in cups (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2025-58364](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-58364/): cups: Remote DoS via null dereference (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2026-34980](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-34980/): OpenPrinting CUPS: Shared PostScript queue lets anonymous Print-Job requests reach `lp` code execution over the network (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2025-61915](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-61915/): OpenPrinting CUPS vulnerable to stack based out-of-bound write (medium 6.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-39316 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-39316 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in OpenPrinting cups, published on 7 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-39316 exists.

Affected product: OpenPrinting cups. 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-2026-39316/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-39316/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-39316
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-39316
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-39316

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-39316/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.