Microsoft advises users to disable the Windows print spooler or risk being hacked.

 

Microsoft advises users to disable the Windows print spooler or risk being hacked.

This is the third major Windows print flaw discovered in the last five weeks.



Facepalm: Microsoft is once again advising customers to disable Windows print spooler, following the discovery of a new vulnerability that allows hackers to execute malicious code on machines. While a patch to address the flaw will be released soon, the most effective workaround for the time being is to stop and disable the print spooler service entirely.

This is the third flaw in the print spooler discovered in the last five weeks. While a critical flaw was discovered and patched in June, a similar flaw known as PrintNightmare was discovered shortly after and patched as well (with mixed success).

The discovery of this new vulnerability is discouraging news for Microsoft and its customers.

Microsoft has issued an online warning to customers about the new print spooler vulnerability, writing, "An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged file operations." An attacker could then install programs, change or delete data, or create new accounts with full user privileges."

This is extremely important!

If the "Print Spooler" service is enabled (which is the default), any remote authenticated user can execute code on the domain controller as SYSTEM.

Now is the time to stop and disable the service on any DC!


The bottom line for keeping your computer safe is to stop and disable the print spooler service if it's running – Microsoft explains how to do so online. While a patch for this vulnerability will be released in due course, no timetable is currently available.

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