Microsoft Releases New PrintNightmare Patch To Install Immediately

Microsoft has published a revision for the Windows patch against the so-called PrintNightmare vulnerability. The group recommends immediate installation in order to close the security gap, as the previous updates did not help to the full extent.

We have reported several times over the past few weeks about the PrintNightmare vulnerability. Microsoft reacted very quickly after it became known and published an update, although some experts said that it was not effective. The patch could be bypassed quickly and the systems were therefore still vulnerable. Microsoft reacted somewhat stoically to this at the time and only said that the update was not applied correctly in these cases and that the instructions of the company should be followed exactly.

New authorization requirement for driver updates

Now Microsoft has released a new patch KB 5005652 which, according to its own information, changes the standard behavior of Point and Print under Windows. In the future, installation of Point and Print drivers and updates will always require administrator rights by default in order to avoid further problems. Microsoft is now restricting the fact that this change will of course have a negative effect on users without administrator rights who have previously been able to install and update these drivers – but security is increased.

The new patch is required to guarantee security according to the current state of knowledge. IT administrators who refrain from applying the new update or who deactivate the attenuation in the form of the new rights requirement may remain vulnerable to PrintNightmare exploits. The Windows team has already published further information on this in the revised security advisory under CVE-2021-34481.