Image credits: anycubic
Anycubic customers are reporting that their 3D printers have been hacked and are displaying messages warning them of a suspected security flaw in the company's systems.
Numerous threads on the news-sharing site Reddit show similar reports (thanks to @dan) of users receiving unsolicited text files with the filename “hacked_machine_readme” on their Anycubic 3D printers. The planted text file claims that Anycubic has “critical vulnerabilities” and warns users to take steps to “prevent potential exploitation.”
A portion of the text file looks like this:
Your machine has a critical vulnerability and poses a serious threat to your security. We strongly recommend that you take immediate action to prevent potential abuse. Feel free to disconnect your printer from the internet if you don't want it to be hacked by malicious parties. This is just a harmless message. You are not harmed in any way.
The text file describes an unspecified vulnerability in Anycubic's MQTT service, which is said to allow it to “connect to and control” customers' 3D printers connected to the internet. . MQTT is a common messaging protocol often used by apps and internet-connected devices to communicate with a company's backend server (in this case his Anycubic system).
Anycubic's app was down at the time TechCrunch checked. When the user tried to log in, he received the error “Network Unavailable” message.
The creator of the text file claimed to have sent a message to 2.9 million Anycubic 3D printers. Anycubic's James Ouyang said in an interview in July 2023 that the company's cumulative sales are his 3 million.
Ouyang did not respond to TechCrunch's email requesting comment.
The text file says, “Please disconnect your printer from the internet until anycubic's patch is applied for this issue.”
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