Windows 10 Gets Emergency Patch That Fixes PrintNightmare

Things have gotten heated at Microsoft over the past few days regarding the PrintNightmare threat. Microsoft has resolved the issue and a patch is now available.

IN A NUTSHELL:

Microsoft has released an emergency patch to fix the PrintNightmare security vulnerability;
The patch is available on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and various versions of Windows Server;
The vulnerability, if exploited, could allow attackers to break in and install unwanted programs, create new accounts or enter or delete content.

PrintNightmare is a vulnerability that enables hackers to bring unwanted content to our computers. A patch fixing the problem has already been made available by Microsoft and is coded KB5004945. Microsoft recommends installing it as soon as possible.

The problem has been known about since last week. There was a vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler that hackers could exploit to remotely compromise the system. Microsoft did not wait until the next scheduled update and released the patch at a non-standard time.

The update is available on Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2 and 21H1. The patch can also be installed on Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (and subsequent versions). It's interesting to note that Windows 7 also received the aforementioned patch, despite not being supported by Microsoft as of January 14, 2020. This may indicate the severity of the problem, which was PrintNightmare.

The patch can be found in the appropriate tab for the update. For the sake of your data it is worth to install the latest patch and be sure that it is safe.