Microsoft fixes critical bug that could exploit personal data of Windows users

A few days, Microsoft issued a warning about a critical bug that install exploit the data of Windows. The company has now rolled out an emergency Windows patch to address the vulnerability that was found in the Windows Print Spooler service. The Windows Print Spooler service which was called 'PrintNightmare' was believed to be extremely harmful in nature. The researchers have revealed that the bug 'PrintNighmare can be exploited by hackers to gain control of a user' system.

"Microsoft has completed the investigation and has released security updates to address this vulnerability. We recommend that you install these updates immediately. Note that the security updates released on and after July 6, 2021 contain protections for CVE-2021-1675 and the additional remote code execution exploit in the Windows Print Spooler service known as "PrintNightmare", documented in CVE-2021-34527," Microsoft said.

As per Bleepingcomputer report, Microsoft took a few days to acknowledge the bug, but it is now warning customers that the bug is being exploited by hackers. The cybercriminals install malicious programmes, gain admin rights, change data and create new accounts using the admin rights.

The Cybersecurity and infrastructure agency has encouraged administrators to disable the Windows Print spooler service in Domain Controllers and systems that do not print. "Due to the possibility for exposure, domain controllers and Active Directory admin systems need to have the Print spooler service disabled. The recommended way to do this is using a Group Policy Object," the agency said.

For the unversed, the print spooler is software that is available in the Windows operating system. It stores print jobs in the computer's memory before the printer finally prints it