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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 15 Apr 2022. Known ransomware use
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2022-21999

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.10240.19204 / 10.0.14393.4946 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware 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
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 · moderate confidence

This is an Elevation of Privilege vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler service. It allows an authenticated attacker to escalate privileges, likely to SYSTEM level, by exploiting improper handling of print jobs within the Print Spooler component.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-21999 via Windows Update. If the Print Spooler service is not required in the environment, consider disabling it as a defense-in-depth measure.

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:< 10.0.10240.19204
Windows 10 1607Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.14393.4946
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.2565
Windows 10 1909Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.18363.2094
Windows 10 20h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19042.1526
Windows 10 21h1Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19043.1526
Windows 10 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19044.1526
Windows 11 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22000.493

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. Determine Windows version and build number
    Run 'winver' or execute 'systeminfo' and look for OS Version/Build number. Alternatively, run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /v CurrentBuildNumber'
    Affected if The Windows build number is lower than the threshold for your version: 1507 < 19204, 1607 < 4946, 1809 < 2565, 1909 < 2094, 20h2 < 1526, 21h1 < 1526, 21h2 < 1526, or 11 21h2 < 493
  2. Confirm Print Spooler service is running
    Run 'Get-Service Spooler' in PowerShell or 'sc query spooler' at command prompt
    Affected if The Spooler service status shows as Running (exploitation requires the Print Spooler service to be active)
  3. Verify Print Spooler startup configuration
    Run 'Get-Service Spooler | Select-Object Name, Status, StartType' in PowerShell
    Affected if The StartType is set to Automatic or Manual and Status is Running, meaning the service can be started and is active

Your system is affected by CVE-2022-21999 if the installed Windows build number falls below the version-specific threshold AND the Print Spooler service is running or can be started.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.0.10240.19204 / 10.0.14393.4946 / 10.0.17763.2565 or later
Fixed in 10.0.10240.1920410.0.14393.494610.0.17763.2565
Vendor patch msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-21999 via Windows Update. If the Print Spooler service is not required in the environment, consider disabling it as a defense-in-depth measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply the CVE-2022-21999 security update; for each Windows 10 version, install the update that brings the build to 10.0.10240.19204 (1507), 10.0.14393.4946 (1607), 10.0.17763.2565 (1809), 10.0.18363.2094 (1909), 10.0.19042.1526 (20h2), 10.0.19043.1526 (21h1), 10.0.19044.1526 (21h2), or for Windows 1

  1. 1. Identify the current Windows version and build by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"'
  2. 2. Check Windows Update for available security updates: Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for updates
  3. 3. Install the applicable security update for CVE-2022-21999 from Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)
  4. 4. Alternatively, manually download the specific security update from the Microsoft Update Catalog based on your Windows version
  5. 5. After installation, restart the system to apply the patch
  6. 6. Verify the patch was installed by checking installed updates or running 'systeminfo' to confirm the OS build number meets or exceeds the fixed version for your Windows release
Caveat Standard Windows security update with no expected breaking changes; as with any system update, test in a staging environment before broad deployment

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-21999 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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