CVE-2022-38028 | Windows Print Spooler Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

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Windows Print Spooler Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Published: 2022-10-11 Last update: 2025-10-30 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-38028 is rated Critical Active Threat (86.6/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.91%). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2024-04-23) affecting Microsoft / Windows. Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. 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-2022-38028

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

Exploit added: 2024-04-23

Action due: 2024-05-14

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-38028

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 2026-05-22 4.47% 3.91% -0.56%
2 2026-05-19 4.06% 4.47% +0.41%
3 2026-05-14 — 4.06% —

Full EPSS history (70 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-38028

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-38028

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-38028

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft windows_10_1507 < 10.0.10240.19507 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1507:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_1607 < 10.0.14393.5427 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1607:*:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_10_1607 < 10.0.14393.5427 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1607:*:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
microsoft windows_10_1809 < 10.0.17763.3532 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1809:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_20h2 < 10.0.19042.2130 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_20h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:arm64:*
microsoft windows_10_20h2 < 10.0.19042.2130 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_20h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
microsoft windows_10_21h1 < 10.0.19043.2130 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_21h1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_21h2 < 10.0.19044.2130 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_21h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_11_22h2 < 10.0.22621.674 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_11_22h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_8.1 < 6.3.9600.20625 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_rt_8.1 < 6.3.9600.20625 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_rt_8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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 < 10.0.14393.5427 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2016:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2019 < 10.0.17763.3532 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2019:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2022 < 10.0.20348.1129 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2022:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-38028

cvelogic Threat Intelligence