CVE-2023-21760
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 a local Elevation of Privilege vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler service. It allows an authenticated attacker with standard user privileges to escalate to SYSTEM-level permissions, potentially giving them full control over the affected system.
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= 21h2= 22h2= 1607= 1809all versions= 21h2= 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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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Check Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo' to identify the installed Windows version and build numberAffected if The system runs Windows 10 (any version including 20h2, 21h2, 22h2, 1607, 1809), Windows 11 (any version including 21h2, 22h2), Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Rt 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2016 - these are the affected product ranges
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Verify Print Spooler service statusRun 'Get-Service Spooler' in PowerShell or check the service in services.msc to see if the Print Spooler service is runningAffected if The Print Spooler service (spooler) is currently running on the system - this is the required component for the vulnerability to be exploitable
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Confirm patch installation statusCheck installed Windows updates for the CVE-2023-21760 security update by running 'Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.Description -like "Security Update"}' and compare against Microsoft's release notes for this CVE, or check the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Packages for recent Print Spooler-related updatesAffected if The specific security update for CVE-2023-21760 has NOT been installed - the system remains vulnerable if unpatched
A system is affected if it runs an affected Windows version, has the Print Spooler service enabled/running, and lacks the corresponding security update for CVE-2023-21760.
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 Microsoft security updates for CVE-2023-21760 immediately. If the Print Spooler service is not required, disable it to eliminate the attack surface.
- Open Windows Update settings on the affected Windows system
- Check for and install all available security updates
- Restart the system if prompted to complete the installation
- After updates install, verify the Print Spooler service is running properly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $3,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21760 — 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-2023-21760 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