Ghost in the network (printer)

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rbis

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#302714 14-Dec-2022 09:07

My network attached printer has started spontaneously printing pages of rubbish.

Examples include:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: [REMOVED IP ADDRESS]:9100
Accept: */*
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 {Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTM

Connection: close

or:

GET / HTTP/1.0

or total gibberish, such as:

^$*+,01$U

or:

¥Ä@½¢"8yß,®±

Apart from making me feel guilty about wasting paper, it's very annoying! The problem seems to have materialised after a WINDOWS 10 reset on my main computer, and only occurs when this computer is connected to the network, but not necessarily when switched on.

any insights gratefully accepted - thanks in advance.

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#3009755 14-Dec-2022 09:13

Nothing to do with Windows.

Do you have a Fuji Xerox ApeosPort-VII C3321 printer on your network?

The IP address on that message is exactly the same as the IP address you're posting from. This means your printer is visible on the Internet and anyone can access it.

I have edited your message to remove your IP address.

I guess you either created a port forward on your router to your printer, or the printer is configured to expose itself to the Internet by automatically creating a port forward using UPnP.

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rbis

15 posts

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#3009756 14-Dec-2022 09:17

the latest development:

GET/ HTTP/1.1
Host: [IP REMOVED]:9100
Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=O
Upgrade-Insecure-Requests: 1
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTM
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/webp,image
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Accept-Language: en-NZ,en;q=0.9

richms

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#3009757 14-Dec-2022 09:18

Who's gonna send him goatse or something now?

Richard rich.ms

rbis

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#3009761 14-Dec-2022 09:27

Thanks BDFL - Memuneh

You are correct with identifying the printer.

The problem began after the Windows reset when I could print documents but was unable to receive scans from it. Technical support from FX got me to this point but it seems that something is still amiss. Do you have any suggests about setting ports on the printer or router?

cyril7

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#3009762 14-Dec-2022 09:28

richms:
Who's gonna send him goatse or something now?

Oh so tempting 😂

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#3009763 14-Dec-2022 09:29

How did FX get you to this point? Did support suggest to change the router or printer configuration?

To fix this you will have to login to your router and delete any port forward there or uncheck the UPnP feature. If there's nothing there you will have to login to your printer and remove any UPnP setting there.

Once done, let us know so I can confirm.

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#3009764 14-Dec-2022 09:30

@rbis as it is, at the moment anyone can send anything to your printer by just using your IP address:

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cyril7

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#3009766 14-Dec-2022 09:37

Hi Mauricio, I suggest you wave you magic wand and remove the IP address from public view again.

Cyril

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#3009768 14-Dec-2022 09:42

cyril7:

Hi Mauricio, I suggest you wave you magic wand and remove the IP address from public view again.

Cyril

Done.

@rbis, please do not post the messages sent out by your printer again unless you remove the IP address. I have edited your second post to remove it.

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#3009777 14-Dec-2022 09:59

@rbis if there is no port forward or UPnP, then perhaps check that the printer IP address is not set as DMZ.

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michaelmurfy

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#3009781 14-Dec-2022 10:00

@rbis It looks like at some point you've added your printer to the DMZ of your router - does this seem familiar? I can see all standard printer ports exposed.

I was successfully able to add the printer to Windows, I have not attempted a print however. Until you remove your printer from the DMZ on your router (or simply factory reset your router) you should unplug your printer from the network + turn it fully off.

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cyril7

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#3009786 14-Dec-2022 10:15

Looks like he has taken the router offline now, I did manage to print a job, but its all off now, scary

Cyril

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#3009788 14-Dec-2022 10:15

What did you print?

Richard rich.ms

cyril7

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#3009789 14-Dec-2022 10:17

Hi, an notice that his printer was exposed online and bad actors could compromise his network and to seek professional IT assistance.

Cyril

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#3009790 14-Dec-2022 10:19

michaelmurfy:

@rbis It looks like at some point you've added your printer to the DMZ of your router - does this seem familiar? I can see all standard printer ports exposed.

I was successfully able to add the printer to Windows, I have not attempted a print however. Until you remove your printer from the DMZ on your router (or simply factory reset your router) you should unplug your printer from the network + turn it fully off.

I'd disconnect from the network then reset to factory defaults for a start.

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