Last week, security researchers accidentally published the Proof-of-Concept (PoC) exploit for the vulnerability dubbed 'PrintNightmare' in Windows OS on GitHub.
The zero-day security loophole (CVE-2021-34527) has been detected in the Print Spooler service, which runs by default on Windows OS. This apparently allows bad actors with technical hacking expertise to gain full admin rights to remotely execute code. With this, they can illegally install malicious application programmes to spy on users, alter data, and even be able to create new accounts in the system without the user's knowledge.
[Note: Zero-day vulnerability is a computer-software loophole wherein a solution is yet to be found. If left unattended, hackers can exploit it to modify programs, steal data from PCs or a network]
With the security loophole now in the public domain, Microsoft has released an emergency security patch to most of the affected devices around the world.
The new update is being rolled out to computers running Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and multiple supported versions of Windows 10.
Owners are advised to immediately install the latest security software update on their Windows PCs to avoid getting hacked.
It should be noted that Microsoft has sought some time to deploy a similar critical patch to Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, and Windows 10 (Version 1607).
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