If you run Windows 10, UPDATE YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW!!!

[thewayne]

There is a critical security bug that was discovered late yesterday called PrintNightmare in Windows' print spooler. It affects ALL versions of Windows!

Let me repeat that.

EVERY. FREAKING. VERSION. OF. WINDOWS.

Not just Windows 10.

Server.

7.

Vista.

And on down the line.

It allows the remote creation of privileged accounts, so even if you're not running as an admin user, the villains can create an admin account on your system.

If you're running Windows 10, there's a patch, and you should apply it toot sweet. If you're running an older version of Windows, there will be a patch soon, they're working on them. There is a stop-gap measure: disable the Print Spooler. You won't be able to print remotely, but you also won't be able to be compromised.

Read the comments on Krebs' post, since the patch was rushed out, it may be buggy. You might want to just disable the Print Spooler for now until a better patch can be created.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/07/microsoft-issues-emergency-patch-for-windows-flaw/

https://gizmodo.com/printnightmare-windows-users-need-to-install-this-emer-1847243126

Comments

Thanks for the reminder on this!

[dauntless_heart]

I read about it this morning and then forgot. My machine is updating now!

[dewline]

Okay, thanks for this. At least one person I know is running an older version of Windows, and while they don't do remote printing at all - that I know of - I think they'll appreciate the heads-up.

[moonhare]

I started updating this morning... damn, but I hate windows updates. Four of the five computers I worked on finally complied after lagging downloads and installs and multiple restarts, but there was that one that went south. And what a great time to find I didn't have that particular one backed up... one that had multiple customizations and peripherals. This will take most of tomorrow's shift for me to bring back online.


At least I had the main business pc here copied, even if it didn't go down.

[silveradept]

Always so much fun for everyone when a bug appears like this, but thank you for bringing it to our attention. I'll get all the other machines in order and disable their printing ability until I'm sure this one's taken care of.