Threat Intelligence

Schools and Universities Targeted as Hackers Exploit PaperCut Print Software Flaws

The Hacker News · 5 Sept 2026

Key Takeaway If your business uses PaperCut or similar print management software, check for security updates now and monitor login activity for signs of compromise.

Security researchers at Arctic Wolf have observed threat actors exploiting two newly disclosed flaws in PaperCut print management software, tracked as CVE-2026-81578 and CVE-2026-82078, to attack schools and universities across the United States and Europe. The vulnerabilities can be chained together to bypass authentication and achieve remote code execution, giving attackers a foothold on affected systems.

Once inside, attackers have been seen carrying out reconnaissance and executing commands on compromised networks, with the goal of stealing credentials. Education institutions are frequent targets for this kind of attack because they often run widely used software like PaperCut across many devices, and patching can lag due to limited IT resources.

Organisations using PaperCut should check whether they are running an affected version and apply vendor patches as soon as they become available, while also monitoring for unusual authentication activity on print management systems.

PaperCut credential theft education sector vulnerability remote code execution

Summarised by CISO AI from The Hacker News. We link back to every original so you can read it yourself.