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this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2026
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This attack must be run locally. The attacker must already have user access. They can then escalate privileges using this. Meaning your box must already be compromised for this to work. Still serious, but no need to panic in most cases.
A local compromise happens more than you think
Do you have a source for how often it happens or is this conjecture? I guess this would most often happen through supply chain attacks or physical access, the first not being all that common in my understanding and the latter not being a typical threat model for a home computer. But if you have a source explaining what actually happens, I would love to read it.
There are plenty of way to get a local unprivileged shell
For instance, if you are running a old version of cups someone could chain together several vulnerabilities to gain root on your system
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cups-flaws-enable-linux-remote-code-execution-but-theres-a-catch/
Having a MAC like SELinux helps to mitigate this but you still should patch as soon as possible
These are from 2024 (which means your box likely has none of these in 2026), and “the attacker has to trick a user into printing from a malicious printer server on their local network that suddenly appears on their machine” which is quite unlikely for a regular home pc. The attacker would require access to your network which would likely mean they’re inside your house so you have other problems besides privilege escalation.