dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 13 Jun 2022.
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2019-0880

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-07-15
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
A local elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in how splwow64.exe handles certain calls, aka 'Microsoft splwow64 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 confidence

CVE-2019-0880 is a local elevation of privilege vulnerability in splwow64.exe, a Windows Print Spooler component (32-bit print processor for 64-bit systems). The vulnerability allows a local attacker to elevate from low-privilege user context to higher system privileges by exploiting how splwow64.exe handles certain privileged calls, potentially executing arbitrary code in the SYSTEM context.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for CVE-2019-0880 (released June 2019) to all affected Windows systems. Until patched, minimize risk by restricting user privileges and monitoring for unusual spawns of splwow64.exe.

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 data
Windows 10 1507Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1607Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1703Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1709Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1803Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1903Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to get the Windows version
    Affected if The version is Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1703, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, or Windows 8.1 (all versions of these releases)
  2. Verify patch installation
    Run 'wmic qfe get HotFixID,InstalledOn | findstr /i "KB4503291"' to check for the June 2019 security update, or check for subsequent cumulative updates
    Affected if The specific KB4503291 or later cumulative update is NOT installed (system is unpatched)
  3. Confirm Print Spooler service status
    Run 'sc query spooler' to check if the Print Spooler service is running
    Affected if The Print Spooler service (spooler) is running - this is required for splwow64.exe to be loaded and for the vulnerability to be exploitable
  4. Locate splwow64.exe file version
    Find the file at C:\Windows\System32\splwow64.exe, right-click and view Properties > Details, or run 'powershell (Get-Item C:\Windows\System32\splwow64.exe).VersionInfo'
    Affected if The file exists and its version is older than the patched version released in June 2019 (compare against Microsoft release notes for KB4503291)

A system is affected if it runs an unpatched Windows 10 version from 1507 to 1903 or Windows 8.1, has the Print Spooler service running, and is missing the June 2019 security update KB4503291.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch portal.msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates for CVE-2019-0880 (released June 2019) to all affected Windows systems. Until patched, minimize risk by restricting user privileges and monitoring for unusual spawns of splwow64.exe.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply the July 2019 Windows security update (or subsequent monthly rollups containing the CVE-2019-0880 fix) for your specific Windows version

  1. Open Windows Update by clicking Start and typing 'Windows Update' or going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update
  2. Click 'Check for updates' to ensure you have the latest available updates
  3. Install all recommended security updates, particularly the update corresponding to CVE-2019-0880
  4. If automatic updates are not enabled, enable them or regularly check for and install monthly security updates
  5. Restart the computer after installing updates to complete the remediation
  6. Verify the update was installed by checking the installed updates list for the relevant security patch
Caveat Standard security update with no expected breaking changes; as a routine patch, compatibility issues are rare but ensure backups exist before major updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-0880 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-0880 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data