Security News

A proof-of-concept exploit related to a remote code execution vulnerability affecting Windows Print Spooler and patched by Microsoft earlier this month was briefly published online before being taken down. The Windows maker addressed the vulnerability as part of its Patch Tuesday update on June 8, 2021.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has issued a notification regarding the critical PrintNightmare zero-day vulnerability and advises admins to disable the Windows Print Spooler service on servers not used for printing. "CISA encourages administrators to disable the Windows Print spooler service in Domain Controllers and systems that do not print," the US federal agency said.

For details about the emergency patch released by Microsoft on 2021-07-06,please see: PrintNightmare official patch is out - update now! You'll also hear and see the flaw referred to as the Print Spooler bug, based on the headline on Microsoft's security update guide that describes the flaw as a Windows Print Spooler Vulnerability.

Windows 11 comes with a new optional feature called 'TPM Diagnostics' that allows administrators to query the data stored on a device's TPM security processor. "TPM 2.0 is a critical building block for providing security with Windows Hello and BitLocker to help customers better protect their identities and data. In addition, for many enterprise customers, TPMs help facilitate Zero Trust security by providing a secure element for attesting to the health of devices."

Update: Microsoft acknowledged PrintNightmare as a zero-day that has been affecting all Windows versions since before June 2021 security updates. Technical details and a proof-of-concept exploit have been accidentally leaked for a currently unpatched vulnerability in Windows that allows remote code execution.

UPDATE. A proof-of-concept for a critical Windows security vulnerability that allows remote code execution was dropped on GitHub on Tuesday - and while it was taken back down within a few hours, the code was copied and is still out there circulating on the platform. The bug exists in the Windows Print Spooler and has been dubbed "PrintNightmare" by researchers.

An infosec firm accidentally published a proof-of-concept exploit for a critical Windows print spooler vulnerability that can be abused by rogue users to compromise Active Directory domain controllers. This security hole could be exploited by a normal user to execute code as an administrator on a system running the print spooler service.

Windows network administrators are scrambling to contain the fallout from the release of proof-of-concept code for a nasty Windows Print Spooler vulnerability that exposes Windows servers to remote code execution attacks. Multiple threat hunters are reporting that published demo exploit code provides a code execution path on fully patched Windows servers, meaning that Microsoft's June patch may have missed the mark.

CVE-2021-1675, a Windows Print Spooler vulnerability that Microsoft patched in June 2021, presents a much greater danger than initially thought: researchers have proved that it can be exploited to achieve remote code execution and - what's worse - PoC exploits have since been leaked. The Windows Print Spooler is an application / interface / service that interacts with local or networked printers and manages the printing process.

Microsoft has released an optional out-of-band update for all supported Windows 10 versions to address an issue preventing customers from opening PDF documents using some applications. The KB5004760 emergency update is available for devices running client editions of Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2, and 21H1, as well as Windows Server versions 2004 and 20H2. "An out-of-band optional update is now available on the Microsoft Update Catalog to address an issue in which Internet Explorer 11 and apps using the WebBrowser control might fail to open PDFs," the company says.