{"id":"CVE-2026-112978","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-112978"],"related":[],"title":"Windows Print Spooler: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","description":"Use after free in Windows Print Spooler Components allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.","summary":"A use-after-free flaw in the Windows Print Spooler components lets an attacker who already has a local account raise their privileges. The sources give a CVSS score of 7.8 and say nothing about a public exploit.","severity":"high","cvss":7.8,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["infrastructure","print-spooler","windows"],"not_affected_if":["spooler-disabled"],"how_to_check":"- Check the Windows build with `winver` and compare it against Microsoft's security update guide for CVE-2026-112978\n- Check whether the Print Spooler service is running with `Get-Service Spooler` in PowerShell","fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-10T19:18:49+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:24:36+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-10T19:41:05+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-10T19:41:05+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.5,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-10T19:41:05Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Windows Print Spooler: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","impact":"high","summary":"A use-after-free flaw in the Windows Print Spooler components lets an attacker who already has a local account raise their privileges. The sources give a CVSS score of 7.8 and say nothing about a public exploit.","audience":"businesses","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows","print-spooler"],"confidence":0.5,"fix_status":"unknown","needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user gains SYSTEM privileges on the machine","analyst_note":"Find the Microsoft security update guide entry for CVE-2026-112978 to get affected builds and the fixed update.","how_to_check":"- Check the Windows build with `winver` and compare it against Microsoft's security update guide for CVE-2026-112978\n- Check whether the Print Spooler service is running with `Get-Service Spooler` in PowerShell","plain_action":"","product_name":"","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["spooler-disabled"],"who_is_affected":"Any Windows machine running the Print Spooler service where a user already has a local account. The sources do not say which Windows builds are affected, and they do not name a fixed version. Servers and workstations that do not run the Spooler service are likely not exposed, but the sources do not confirm this.","user_interaction":"unknown","product_ecosystem":"","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000707,"input_tokens":4484,"output_tokens":518,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":"queued","analyst_note":"Find the Microsoft security update guide entry for CVE-2026-112978 to get affected builds and the fixed update.","search":"'-112978':17A,20A '-2026':16A,19A '7.8':57B 'account':46B 'allow':73C 'alreadi':42B 'attack':40B,76C 'author':75C 'compon':37B,72C 'cve':15A,18A 'cvss':54B 'elev':78C 'exploit':64B 'flaw':31B 'free':7A,30B,67C 'gain':12A 'give':52B 'higher':13A 'infrastructur':21B 'let':8A,38B 'local':10A,45B,80C 'noth':60B 'print':2A,23B,35B,70C 'print-spool':22B 'privileg':14A,49B,79C 'public':63B 'rais':47B 'say':59B 'score':55B 'sourc':51B 'spooler':3A,24B,36B,71C 'use':5A,28B,65C 'use-after-fre':4A,27B 'user':11A 'window':1A,25B,34B,69C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Any Windows machine running the Print Spooler service where a user already has a local account. The sources do not say which Windows builds are affected, and they do not name a fixed version. Servers and workstations that do not run the Spooler service are likely not exposed, but the sources do not confirm this.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"none","audience":"businesses","plain_action":null,"pkeys":[],"ptokens":[],"labels":["high","infrastructure","printspooler","windows"],"campaign_type":null,"search_a":"'-112978':17A,20A '-2026':16A,19A 'cve':15A,18A 'free':7A 'gain':12A 'higher':13A 'let':8A 'local':10A 'print':2A 'privileg':14A 'spooler':3A 'use':5A 'use-after-fre':4A 'user':11A 'window':1A","search_b":"'7.8':57B 'account':46B 'alreadi':42B 'attack':40B 'compon':37B 'cvss':54B 'exploit':64B 'flaw':31B 'free':30B 'give':52B 'infrastructur':21B 'let':38B 'local':45B 'noth':60B 'print':23B,35B 'print-spool':22B 'privileg':49B 'public':63B 'rais':47B 'say':59B 'score':55B 'sourc':51B 'spooler':24B,36B 'use':28B 'use-after-fre':27B 'window':25B,34B","search_c":"'allow':73C 'attack':76C 'author':75C 'compon':72C 'elev':78C 'free':67C 'local':80C 'print':70C 'privileg':79C 'spooler':71C 'use':65C 'window':69C","cause_entry":null,"cause_path":null,"disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-10T19:18:49+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"secure@microsoft.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-112978","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-112978","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:18:49+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:18:49+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:24:36+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:24:36+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"disclosures":[],"exploit_sources":[],"notice":"Free to read, with fair use of about 60 pages a minute. For higher limits or API access: sales@infrastack.ai"}