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Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2022-24459

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 Fax and Scan Service 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 Fax and Scan Service. The vulnerability allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the affected system by exploiting the fax and scan service component.

MitigationApply the appropriate Microsoft security update for this vulnerability (KB5001402 or subsequent relevant patches) to all affected Windows systems, prioritizing domain controllers and systems with the Fax and Scan service enabled.

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 10Operating system
Affected:all versions= 20h2= 21h1= 21h2= 1607= 1809= 1909
Windows 11Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Rt 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows ServerOperating system
Affected:= 20h2= 2022
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2

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. Verify if Windows Fax and Scan service exists
    Open Services.msc and look for 'Windows Fax and Scan' service, or run: Get-Service -Name 'Spooler' | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Fax*'} in PowerShell
    Affected if The service 'Windows Fax and Scan' is present on the system (all listed Windows versions include this component)
  2. Check if Fax and Scan service is running
    Run: Get-Service -Name 'Spooler' | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Fax*'} -Status in PowerShell, or check via Services.msc
    Affected if The service status shows as 'Running' - this is the condition for the vulnerability to be exploitable
  3. Confirm service startup type
    Run: Get-Service -Name 'Spooler' | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Fax*'} | Select-Object Name, Status, StartType in PowerShell, or check via services.msc Properties
    Affected if StartType is set to Automatic or Manual (vulnerability requires the service to be active)
  4. Identify installed Windows version
    Run: winver.exe, or run: systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version" in Command Prompt, or check via Settings > System > About
    Affected if The Windows version matches any of the affected ranges: Windows 10 (all versions, specifically 20h2, 21h1, 21h2, 1607, 1809, 1909), Windows 11 (all versions), Windows 7 (all versions), Windows 8.1 (all versions), Windows Rt 8.1, Windows Server 2008/2012/2016/2019/2022 (specific versions listed)

A user is affected if they are running any of the listed Windows versions AND the Windows Fax and Scan service is enabled and running on their 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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the appropriate Microsoft security update for this vulnerability (KB5001402 or subsequent relevant patches) to all affected Windows systems, prioritizing domain controllers and systems with the Fax and Scan service enabled.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Apply the relevant Microsoft security update (KB) for CVE-2022-24459; for end-of-life systems (Windows 7, Server 2008/2012), migrate to a supported Windows version (Windows 10/11, Server 2019/2022)

  1. Check the Microsoft Security Response Center (msrc.microsoft.com) for CVE-2022-24459 security update
  2. Identify the specific KB article number for your Windows version
  3. Apply the security update via Windows Update, WSUS, or by downloading the KB from Microsoft Update Catalog
  4. Restart the system if prompted
  5. Verify the update is installed by checking the installed updates list
Caveat None expected; apply standard Windows security updates per normal maintenance window

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

Fix this in Windows 10 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2022-24459 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