A Rickrolled Prusa Printer Shows Why Firmware Updates Matter

The actual story.

A Prusa 3D printer became an unlikely Rickroll screen after Yannick Dixken found a way to run his own code on its main controller. His November 2 account describes a week of testing in August that produced 14 findings covering roughly 23 defects.

Dixken used Claude, fuzzing and manual review. He distinguished findings demonstrated on hardware from those supported by host testing or source inspection, an important qualification when AI helps search for flaws.

The most serious attack had specific prerequisites. Prusa says the printer had to communicate with an attacker-controlled Connect server or one without TLS. Dixken tested his own printer with TLS disabled. Intercepting the official Prusa Connect connection was insufficient because its encryption held.

Prusa says the findings do not enable direct attacks from the internet or access to Prusa Accounts, passwords or payment information, and it knows of no exploitation against customers.

Security fixes arrived in firmware 7.0.0 and are included in 8.0.0, which the release notes recommend. The vendor also identifies an exception: one low-severity EEPROM issue requiring physical access remains only partly fixed and under review.

Receipts, not rumors.

• Prusa security advisory and 7.0.0 notes
• Prusa firmware 8.0.0

Read the original reporting: Yannick Dixken; Prusa Research

The reporting above provides context. Illustrations are editorial interpretations, not source photographs.