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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 10 May 2022.
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2022-22718

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 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

An elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler service allows an authenticated local attacker to gain higher-level system privileges by exploiting improper权限 checks in the print spooling mechanism.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for CVE-2022-22718; if immediate patching is not feasible, consider disabling the Print Spooler service on systems that do not require printing capabilities.

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. Check Windows version and build number
    Open Settings > System > About, or run 'winver' command, or run 'systeminfo' in Command Prompt. Note the OS build number (e.g., 10.0.19044.xxxx)
    Affected if The installed build number falls below the threshold for your Windows version: 10240.19204 (1507), 14393.4946 (1607), 17763.2565 (1809), 18363.2094 (1909), 19042.1526 (20h2), 19043.1526 (21h1), 19044.1526 (21h2), or 22000.493 (Windows 11 21h2)
  2. Confirm Print Spooler service is present
    Open Services app and locate 'Print Spooler (Spooler)', or run 'Get-Service Spooler' in PowerShell
    Affected if The Print Spooler service exists on the system (it is a default component on all affected Windows versions)
  3. Check if Print Spooler is running
    In Services app, verify the Status column for Print Spooler, or run 'Get-Service Spooler | Select-Object Status' in PowerShell
    Affected if The Print Spooler service is currently running (the vulnerability requires the service to be active to exploit it)

You are affected if your Windows build number is below the threshold for your specific version AND the Print Spooler service is installed and running on your system.

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 Microsoft security updates for CVE-2022-22718; if immediate patching is not feasible, consider disabling the Print Spooler service on systems that do not require printing capabilities.

Recommended fix High confidence

Windows Security Update for CVE-2022-22718 (KB5001402 or subsequent cumulative updates containing this fix)

  1. Identify the current Windows version by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo'
  2. Determine which Windows 10/11 version and build number is installed
  3. Apply the appropriate Windows Security Update released for CVE-2022-22718
  4. For Windows 10 1507: Upgrade to build 10.0.10240.19204 or later
  5. For Windows 10 1607: Upgrade to build 10.0.14393.4946 or later
  6. For Windows 10 1809: Upgrade to build 10.0.17763.2565 or later
  7. For Windows 10 1909: Upgrade to a build greater than 10.0.18363.2094
  8. For Windows 10 20H2: Upgrade to build 10.0.19042.1526 or later
Caveat Standard Windows update - no breaking changes expected; ensure backup of critical data before any system update

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-22718 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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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-2022-22718 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