Windows Print Spooler has yet another security flaw
A fix is still under development
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Microsofthas notified users of another vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler, just days afteraddressing the PrintNightmarevulnerability in the same subsystem.
The latest bug, tracked as CVE-2021-34481, is a local privilege escalation vulnerability that can be exploited to give attackers enhanced privileges.
“An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights,”notes Microsoftin its disclosure.
We’re looking at how our readers use VPNs with streaming sites like Netflix so we can improve our content and offer better advice. This survey won’t take more than 60 seconds of your time, and you can also choose to enter the prize draw to win a $100 Amazon voucher or one of five 1-year ExpressVPN subscriptions.
Click here to start the survey in a new window«
Disable the spooler
Microsoft notes that to successfully exploit the vulnerability, the attacker must have physical access to a victim’s system. This makes the vulnerability less severe than those that can be exploited remotely, such as PrintNightmare.
Despite this, Microsoft’s Exploitability Assessment notes that the local privilege escalation bug can likely be exploited.
More worryingly however, Microsoft notes that a fix for the vulnerability doesn’t yet exist. Its suggested workaround while it works on the security fix, is to stop and disable the Print Spooler service, which will have the side-effect of disabling the computer’s ability to communicate with local andnetwork printersrobbing it of the ability to print.
There were reports of publicly available exploits of the now-patched PrintNightmare exploits even as Microsoft was still working on a fix. However, CVE-2021-34481 wouldn’t seem as exciting to threat actors since a successful exploitation requires physical access to the computer.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.
A new form of macOS malware is being used by devious North Korean hackers
Scammers are using fake copyright infringement claims to hack businesses
I review TVs for a living and this record-low price on the Hisense U8N is one of the best early Black Friday deals I’ve seen
