Medium · published May 5, 2026
A race condition exists in PaperCut MF when processing badge-swipe data from certain HP multifunction devices. Under specific network conditions involving dropped packets and out-of-order sequence counters, the server may incorrectly process fragmented data chunks. If a sequence reset notification fails to reach the server, the server may reject the initial data chunk while erroneously accepting subsequent chunks before a connection reset completes.
This leads to the registration of a truncated badge ID string. While this typically results in an authentication failure, the vulnerability is compounded in environments utilizing custom badge-ID post-processing scripts. In such configurations, the truncated string may be transformed into a valid ID belonging to a different user, leading to unauthorized session establishment (Incorrect User Login) on the device.