CVE-2002-1368: Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) 1.1.14 through 1.1.17 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service

This week

HIGH 7.5DOWNGRADEMITIGATE

CVE-2002-1368 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.5) affecting cups, mac os x. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) 1.1.14 through 1.1.17 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code by causing negative arguments to be fed into memcpy() calls via HTTP requests with (1) a negative Content-Length value or (2) a negative length in a chunked transfer encoding.

Why this priority

High severity
EPSS top 3%: very likely to be exploited
Public exploit reference

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	7.5 (High)
EPSS exploit chance	15.5% (top 3%)
CISA exploited list	No
Published	2002-12-26
Last modified	2026-06-16

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: apple · easy software products

Last updated 2026-06-16 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2002-12-26 05:00 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-16 21:59 UTCUpdated Record last modified

easy software products cups DOWNGRADE

Affected: 1.0.4 · 1.0.4_8 · 1.1.1 · 1.1.4 · 1.1.4_2 · 1.1.4_3 · 1.1.4_5 · 1.1.6

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 1.0.4

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy cups || rpm -q cups || cups --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 1.0.4 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison cups sudo apt install cups=<VERSION_BEFORE_1.0.4> sudo apt-mark hold cups

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list cups sudo dnf downgrade cups-<VERSION_BEFORE_1.0.4> sudo dnf versionlock add cups

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

apple mac os x MITIGATE

Affected: 10.2 · 10.2.2

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 10.2

Check your OS release

cat /etc/os-release; uname -r

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

Windows

Install the latest cumulative update from Windows Update

If no patch exists yet

OS downgrades are not safe. Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory and restrict exposure.

Public exploits and detection

Public code exists for this CVE. Treat unpatched systems as at risk, and only run PoCs in a lab.

Exploit-DB: CUPS 1.1.x - Negative Length HTTP Header

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2002-1368?

cups: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation; mac os x: mitigate or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2002-1368 being exploited?

CVE-2002-1368 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2002-1368 affect?

CVE-2002-1368 affects cups, mac os x. Severity is high (CVSS 7.5). Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) 1.1.14 through 1.1.17 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code by causing negative arguments to be fed into memcpy() calls via HTTP requests with (1)

How urgent is CVE-2002-1368?

Priority 55/100. High severity; EPSS top 3%: very likely to be exploited; Public exploit reference

Related CVEs

CVE-2026-61702 MEDIUM 5.3 UPGRADE OpenPrinting CUPS is an open source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems
CVE-2026-39316 MEDIUM 4.0 UPGRADE OpenPrinting CUPS is an open source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems
CVE-2026-41079 MEDIUM 4.3 UPGRADE OpenPrinting CUPS is an open source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems
CVE-2026-39314 MEDIUM 4.0 UPGRADE OpenPrinting CUPS is an open source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems
CVE-2026-107885 LOW 3.3 UPGRADE OpenPrinting CUPS through 2.4.20 contains a resource-exhaustion vulnerability in the submission-timeout handli

References

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