I have a shimano fc-m542 chainset and I need to change the chainrings. Can I use any shimano chainrings or are there specific ones?

Thanks!

Only ones to avoid are the granny rings from the octalink (no hollow centre shaft) ones as they need the inner bits filing down to clear the external BB and XTR ones as some have an unique outer ring design.

But tbh I would just go with cheap steel ones like you have as they last longer which means less chance of problems.

The M542 chainset has a 64mm inner gear BCD and a 104mm BCD middle/outer which is the same as SLX, XT and XTR chainsets so pretty much any 9 speed chainrings will fit whether they’re SLX, XT or XTR.

http://www.dalesbikedoctor.co.uk/category/shimano_chainrings

As Andyl says, not all chainrings are the same so take care. The granny (inner) rings from the older non-Hollowtech cranksets needed filing down and some of the XTR rings used to have a different BCD. TBH I’d stick with Deore steel rings anyway.