HP printer users warned of critical flaw by Iain Thomson

HP has warned users of its Color LaserJet 2500 and 4600 printers of a flaw that could be exploited by hackers to gain remote admin control over PCs running the devices' control software.

The vulnerability is in the Toolbox element of the software and could allow hackers to read documents sent to the printer, as well as allowing unauthorised access to the PC if it runs Windows.

The flaw was reported by Richard Horsman of Sec-1.com, who refrained from publishing details until the flaw had been fixed.

"HP is broadly distributing this security bulletin in order to alert users of the affected HP products to this important security information," said HP in a statement.

The company urged all users of the affected printer software to upgrade to the latest version on its website.