How to mitigate Print Spooler PrintNightmare in Windows 10

Question

RV Derek posted this on another forum and I am partially reposting the info here. Hackers can gain access to PC with malware/virus using Windows 10 print spooler service.

Also when on occasion my printer refuses to print I discovered by trial and error to enter settings as Administrator and go to Administrative Services and find Print spooler service where it is not running and then I click on start or refresh to restart the service again.

Here is one of his links on how to also disable the MS print spooler service. WARNING If you cannot follow the steps in the guide then do not try this.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-mitigate-print-spooler-printnightmare-vulnerability-windows-10#disable_printspooler_windows10

https://www.rvnetwork.com/topic/142468-how-to-mitigate-print-spooler-printnightmare-vulnerability-on-windows-10/?tab=comments#comment-1057484

1492 · Answer

NamMedevac 70 wrote:Here is one of his links on how to also disable the MS print spooler service. WARNING If you cannot follow the steps in the guide then do not try this.https://www.windowscentral.com/how-mitigate-print-spooler-printnightmare-vulnerability-windows-10#disable_printspooler_windows10https://www.rvnetwork.com/topic/142468-how-to-mitigate-print-spooler-printnightmare-vulnerability-on-windows-10/?tab=comments#comment-1057484You do not need to mitigate this yourself if you receive monthly Windows 10 updates.Microsoft pushed out the update (KB5004945) that patches this issue on July 6, 2021. Check your WIN10 update history."Updates a remote code execution exploit in the Windows Print Spooler service, known as “PrintNightmare”, as documented in CVE-2021-34527."A system reboot may be necessary if prompted.

nammedevac_70 · Answer

According to RV Derek the Windows 10 patch did not work to solve the security problem and thus the reason for the news article and post that I now passed on to others. I remember also reading about failed patch on Google tech news sources. Not to argue just stating what I have read.  I simply stop the service for now.

mr__ed · Answer

Even though I don’t have a printer, I went ahead and disabled print spooiler anyway. I figured it can’t hurt.

dryfly · Answer

This is strange. About a week ago my printer, connected wireless through my network, would not process print request. The print jobs would show up but not process, and my printer would not show up on the network.

In eliminating problems I went to devices and printers > right clicked on printer > printer properties > advanced. I then unchecked spool print documents, and checked print directly to printer. Since then all has worked well.

If this is accomplishing the same results as the link, it's much quicker to do.

1492 · Answer

NamMedevac 70 wrote:According to RV Derek the Windows 10 patch did not work to solve the security problem ...I wonder how he knows? Did the monthly security update not install, which is a much bigger problem down the road as it mitigates other vulnerabilities? Or is he running a no longer supported version of WIN10 educational that requires manual editing of the registry?  I doubt he actually tried to exploit the vulnerability as a check.In any case, this WIN10 update is installed on millions of Gov computers and checked by separate SOC agencies.

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How to mitigate Print Spooler PrintNightmare in Windows 10

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