CVE-2023-24907
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on systems using vulnerable Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 printer drivers. Attackers can exploit this by sending specially crafted documents to a vulnerable printer driver, potentially gaining SYSTEM privileges. This affects Windows systems with these printer drivers installed.
💻 Affected Systems
- Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver
- Microsoft PCL6 Printer Driver
📦 What is this software?
Windows 10 1507 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1607 by Microsoft
Windows 10 1809 by Microsoft
Windows 10 20h2 by Microsoft
Windows 10 21h2 by Microsoft
Windows 10 22h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 21h2 by Microsoft
Windows 11 22h2 by Microsoft
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote attacker gains SYSTEM privileges on target system, leading to complete compromise, data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement across the network.
Likely Case
Attacker gains initial foothold on a system through malicious print jobs, then escalates privileges and moves laterally within the network.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation, printer isolation, and endpoint protection blocking malicious payloads.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending malicious print jobs to vulnerable systems. No public exploit code available at time of analysis.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Security updates released in May 2023
Vendor Advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-24907
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Apply May 2023 Windows security updates via Windows Update. 2. For enterprise: Deploy updates through WSUS or SCCM. 3. Verify all affected systems are updated to patched versions.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable printer drivers
windowsRemove or disable Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 printer drivers if not required
Remove-PrinterDriver -Name "Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver"
Remove-PrinterDriver -Name "Microsoft PCL6 Printer Driver"
Restrict printer sharing
windowsDisable printer sharing on vulnerable systems to prevent remote exploitation
Set-Printer -Name "*" -Shared $false
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Network segmentation: Isolate print servers and printing traffic from critical systems
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check installed printer drivers: Get-PrinterDriver | Select Name, DriverVersionCheck Version:
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"Verify Fix Applied:
Verify Windows Update history for May 2023 security updates and check printer driver versions📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual print spooler activity
- Failed print jobs with malformed content
- Printer driver crashes in Event Viewer
Network Indicators:
- Unusual SMB traffic to print spooler ports
- Malformed print job packets
SIEM Query:
EventID=7031 AND ServiceName="Spooler" OR EventID=10 AND Source="PrintService"