CVE-2022-38028 Microsoft CVE debrief

Who should care

Windows administrators, endpoint/security operations teams, vulnerability management teams, and organizations that rely on the Windows Print Spooler service across servers or user endpoints.

Technical summary

The supplied record identifies the issue as a Microsoft Windows Print Spooler privilege escalation vulnerability. CISA’s KEV entry indicates the vulnerability is known to be exploited and references Microsoft’s security guidance and the NVD record for further details. The corpus provided here does not include a CVSS score, affected version list, or deeper root-cause detail, so the safest operational takeaway is to prioritize vendor remediation guidance for Windows systems that expose the Print Spooler service.

Defensive priority

High. Presence in CISA KEV means it should be prioritized ahead of non-KEV issues, with remediation tracked to the CISA due date of 2024-05-14.

Recommended defensive actions

• Review Microsoft’s guidance for CVE-2022-38028 and apply the recommended mitigations or updates.
• Prioritize remediation on Windows assets that use or expose Print Spooler functionality.
• Verify whether any systems cannot be mitigated promptly and, if so, assess whether temporary discontinuation of the product or service is necessary per CISA guidance.
• Confirm exposure across servers, workstations, and remote management environments, then track remediation to the CISA due date.
• Validate completion in vulnerability management reporting and re-scan affected assets after remediation.

Evidence notes

CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog entry names the issue as “Microsoft Windows Print Spooler Privilege Escalation Vulnerability,” lists Microsoft as the vendor and Windows as the product, and gives dateAdded 2024-04-23 with dueDate 2024-05-14. The KEV metadata also states: “Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.” CISA’s notes reference the Microsoft MSRC page for CVE-2022-38028 and the NVD detail page.

Official resources