CVE-2022-22718 | Windows Print Spooler Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

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Windows Print Spooler Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Published: 2022-02-09 Last update: 2025-10-30 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-22718 is rated Critical Active Threat (86.7/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 7.69%, 92th percentile). Core evidence: CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-04-19) affecting Microsoft / Windows. Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. Mandatory action: The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2022-22718

Name: Microsoft Windows Print Spooler Privilege Escalation Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2022-04-19

Action due: 2022-05-10

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-22718

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-17 9.29% 7.69% -1.60%
2 2026-03-10 11.03% 9.29% -1.74%
3 2025-12-28 11.03%

Full EPSS history (49 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-22718

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-22718

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-22718

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft windows_10_1507 < 10.0.10240.19204 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1507:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_1607 < 10.0.14393.4946 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1607:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_1809 < 10.0.17763.2565 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1809:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_1909 <= 10.0.18363.2094 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1909:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_20h2 < 10.0.19042.1526 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_20h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_21h1 < 10.0.19043.1526 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_21h1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_21h2 < 10.0.19044.1526 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_21h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_11_21h2 < 10.0.22000.493 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_11_21h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_7 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_7:-:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_8.1 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_8.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_rt_8.1 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_rt_8.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 r2 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:r2:sp1:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_server_2012 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2012:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2012 r2 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2012:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2016 < 10.0.14393.4946 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2016:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2019 < 10.0.17763.2565 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2019:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2022 < 10.0.20348.524 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2022:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_20h2 < 10.0.19042.1526 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_20h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-22718

cvelogic Threat Intelligence