CVE-2016-3239
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Print Spooler service in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows 10 Gold and 1511 allows local users to gain privileges via vectors involving filesystem write operations, aka "Windows Print Spooler Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Windows Print Spooler service contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability where authenticated local users can perform unauthorized filesystem write operations to gain elevated privileges. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of file operations within the Print Spooler component.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versions= 1511all versionsall versionsall versionsall versions= r2all versions= r2all versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify the Print Spooler service is runningOpen Services (services.msc) and locate 'Print Spooler' or run 'Get-Service Spooler' in PowerShell. Confirm the Status shows 'Running'.Affected if The Print Spooler service is running; if disabled, the vulnerability cannot be exploited.
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Confirm the Windows version is affectedRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version and build number. Compare against: Windows 10 (all versions including 1511), Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Rt 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Vista.Affected if The installed Windows version matches any of the affected products listed in the CVE.
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Check if security update MS16-087 is installedRun 'wmic qfe list' or check Windows Update history for security update KB3170057 (the update addressing CVE-2016-3239).Affected if The security update KB3170057 (MS16-087) is NOT installed; the system remains vulnerable.
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Verify the Print Spooler executable has not been modifiedCheck the digital signature and file version of spoolsv.exe at %SystemRoot%\System32\spoolsv.exe using 'sigcheck -i spoolsv.exe' from Sysinternals or by viewing Properties > Details in Explorer.Affected if The executable is missing, unsigned, or shows unexpected file version values.
A system is affected if it runs an affected Windows version, has the Print Spooler service enabled, and is missing the MS16-087 security update KB3170057.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply Microsoft security update MS16-087 (or subsequent superseded updates) to all affected Windows systems. Alternatively, disable the Print Spooler service if printing is not required in the environment.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3239 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-3239 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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