Microsoft asks users windows To install an update immediately after security researchers find one. serious weakness There is no operating system.
a security breach, commonly known as PrintNightmare, affects the Windows Print Spooler service. Researchers at cybersecurity firm Sangfor mistakenly published a practical guide to explore.
Researchers tweeted in late May that they found vulnerabilities in Print Spooler, allowing multiple users to access a printer. They accidentally posted a proof of concept online and then deleted it – but not before publishing it elsewhere online, including the developer site GitHub.
Microsoft has warned that hackers exploiting the vulnerability could install programs, view and delete data, or even create new user accounts with full user rights. This gives hackers enough command and control of your computer to cause some serious damage.
Windows 10 isn’t the only version affected – Windows 7, which Microsoft ended support last year, is also subject to the vulnerability.
Despite announcing that it will no longer release updates for Windows 7, Microsoft has released a patch for the 12-year-old operating system, confirming the seriousness of the PrintNightmare flaw. The company said updates for Windows Server 2016, Windows 10, version 1607, and Windows Server 2012 are “expected soon”.
“We recommend that you install these updates immediately,” the company said.
If there’s any good news, it’s that the current security update is cumulative, which means that it also contains previous fixes for previous security issues.
This is the latest security alert from Microsoft in a series over the past year and a half. In 2020, Microsoft’s National Security Agency warned of a major flaw in its Windows operating system that could allow hackers to present themselves as legitimate software companies. And this year, hundreds of thousands of Exchange users were targeted after four vulnerabilities in their software allowed hackers to gain access to servers of the popular email and calendar service. Microsoft has also been the target of a devastating breach by SolarWinds.
Notably, Microsoft has not released a patch for Windows 11. Its latest operating system, which will be released soon, is currently only available in testing. Windows 11 arrives six years after Microsoft revised its operating system with Windows 10, a major update that now works on nearly 1.3 billion devices worldwide, according to CCS Insight.
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