Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2022-41073
CVE-2022-41073
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Microsoft Windows Print Spooler vulnerability allows attackers to escalate privileges to SYSTEM level. The flaw has been exploited in active ransomware campaigns.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
A buffer overflow in Windows Print Spooler enables unauthenticated local privilege escalation to SYSTEM. Active exploitation in ransomware operations demonstrates material risk to Windows deployments lacking timely patching.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-11-085Ransomware use Flagged5EPSS 0.02389 (verify live)6CVSS 7.83CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
5 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-11-08), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.02389 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C) · Affected: Microsoft, Windows. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.1, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write — weakness family: Memory safety.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog the same day the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I gain initial access to a Windows system through phishing, weak credentials, or network compromise.
Business
Attacker establishes foothold on corporate workstation or server, bypassing perimeter controls.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I trigger the Print Spooler buffer overflow to escalate my privileges from user to SYSTEM level.
Business
Attacker obtains highest OS privileges, enabling lateral movement and persistence across the network.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I deploy ransomware or data exfiltration tools with SYSTEM privileges across affected systems.
Business
Organization suffers encryption of critical assets, operational shutdown, and potential data breach with regulatory and financial consequences.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05