CVE-2022-44681
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 · uneditedWindows 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 confidenceThis is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler service. The Print Spooler manages print jobs and, when exploited, allows an authenticated attacker to gain higher-level system privileges beyond their current user context, potentially leading to full system compromise.
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= 20h2= 21h1= 21h2= 22h2= 1607= 1809all versions= 22h2all 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:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Print Spooler service statusOpen Services (services.msc) and locate the 'Print Spooler' service, or run 'Get-Service Spooler' in PowerShellAffected if The Print Spooler service is running (started state) - this is required for exploitation
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Identify Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to determine the exact Windows build and versionAffected if Version matches any of the affected products listed (Windows 10 20h2/21h1/21h2/22h2/1607/1809, Windows 11 22h2, Windows 7, 8.1, RT 8.1, Server 2008/2008 R2, Server 2012/2012 R2, Server 2016)
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Verify security patch installationRun 'Get-HotFix -Id KB5020030' (or the corresponding KB for your Windows version per Microsoft security bulletin) in PowerShell, or check Windows Update history for the CVE-2022-44681 related updateAffected if The specific security update for CVE-2022-44681 is NOT installed on the system
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Windows version, has the Print Spooler service enabled, and is missing the CVE-2022-44681 security patch.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply the relevant Microsoft security patch for CVE-2022-44681. If patching is not immediately feasible, consider disabling the Print Spooler service on systems where printing is not required, or implement restrictive ACLs on spooler-related files and registry keys.
- Install the December 2022 Windows security update (or later) on the affected Windows system
- For Windows 10: Install KB5021233 or later from Windows Update
- For Windows 11: Install KB5021237 or later from Windows Update
- For Windows Server 2016: Install KB5021392 or later from Windows Update
- For Windows Server 2012 R2: Install KB5021654 or later from Windows Update
- For Windows Server 2008 R2: Install KB5021656 or later from Windows Update
- Verify the update was successfully installed by checking Windows Update history
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,680.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-44681 — 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-2022-44681 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data