CVE-2007-5208: HP hplip hpssd command injection via sendmail from address

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 19 September 2026. Confidence: medium.

high priorityNetwork-reachable, unauthenticated command execution with full impact, offset by high attack complexity and the absence of KEV listing or known exploit tags.

What it is

hpssd in Hewlett-Packard's Linux Imaging and Printing Project (hplip) 1.x and 2.x before 2.7.10 fails to validate shell metacharacters in a from address before invoking sendmail. Because that input reaches a shell command, an attacker can inject and execute arbitrary commands. The flaw is remotely reachable and rated High (CVSS 2.0 7.6), so it matters for any host running an unpatched hplip daemon.

Impact

An attacker can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the hpssd process, giving full compromise of confidentiality, integrity and availability on the affected host.

Attack surface

The vector is network-reachable (AV:N) with no authentication required (Au:N), but exploitation complexity is High (AC:H), meaning the attacker must satisfy context-dependent conditions to deliver the malicious from address. No user interaction is indicated by the record.

Exploitation

CVE-2007-5208 is not listed in CISA KEV and no ransomware groups are documented using it, but EPSS is 0.67264 (99.3rd percentile), indicating a high modeled likelihood of exploitation activity. Reference tags show only a Red Hat Patch/Vendor Advisory, with no public exploit tag.

What to do

• Upgrade hplip to 2.7.10 or later, or apply the vendor patch referenced in RHSA-2007-0960 and the distribution advisories (Debian DSA-1462, Ubuntu USN-530-1, Gentoo GLSA-200710-26).
• If patching is not immediately possible, stop or disable the hpssd service and restrict network access to its port to trusted hosts only.
• Run hpssd with least privilege and avoid running it as root where the platform allows.
• Audit sendmail invocation paths in hplip for other unvalidated input and sanitize shell metacharacters before command execution.
• Track the distribution-specific errata for your OS to confirm the fixed package version is installed.

Detection

• Monitor hpssd process activity for unexpected child processes, especially sendmail or shell invocations with unusual arguments.
• Search host and mail logs for sendmail invocations containing shell metacharacters (;, |, $(), backticks) in from addresses.
• Alert on network connections to the hpssd service from untrusted or unexpected hosts.
• Verify installed hplip package versions against the fixed 2.7.10 baseline and flag older versions.

This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.