  Photometric observations in the R and I bands of the detached M-type
double-lined eclipsing binary CU Cnc have been acquired and analysed. The
photometric elements obtained from the analysis of the light curves have been
combined with an existing spectroscopic solution to yield high-precision
(errors<2%) absolute dimensions: M_A=0.4333+/-0.0017 Mo, M_B=0.3980+/-0.0014
Mo, R_A=0.4317+/-0.0052 Ro, and R_B=0.3908+/-0.0094 Ro. The mean effective
temperature of the system has been estimated to be Teff=3140+/-150 K by
comparing multi-band photometry with synthetic colors computed from model
atmospheres. Additionally, we have been able to obtain an estimate for the age
(~320 Myr) and chemical composition ([Fe/H]~0.0) of the binary system through
its membership of the Castor moving group. With all these observational
constraints, we have carried out a critical test of recent stellar models for
low-mass stars. The comparison reveals that most evolutionary models
underestimate the radius of the stars by as much as 10%, thus confirming the
trend observed by Torres & Ribas (2002) for YY Gem and V818 Tau. In the
mass-absolute magnitude diagram, CU Cnc is observed to be dimmer than other
stars of the same mass. After ruling out a number of different scenarios, the
apparent faintness of CU Cnc can be explained if its components are some 10%
cooler than similar-mass stars or if there is some source of circumstellar dust
absorption. The latter could be a tantalizing indirect evidence for a coplanar
(Vega-like) dusty disk around this relatively young M-type binary.
