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Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2021-34481

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2021-07-16
  • WeaknessCWE-269

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

A remote code execution vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged file operations. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. UPDATE August 10, 2021: Microsoft has completed the investigation and has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Please see the Security Updates table for the applicable update for your system. We recommend that you install these updates immediately. This security update changes the Point and Print default behavior; please see KB5005652.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2021-07-1621:15CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-34481?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-34481?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Microsoft windows 10
BranchAffectedFixed in
—all versionsno fix published
20.x= 20h2no fix published
21.x= 21h1no fix published
1607.x= 1607no fix published
1809.x= 1809no fix published
1909.x= 1909no fix published
2004.x= 2004no fix published
Microsoft windows server 2008
BranchAffectedFixed in
—all versionsno fix published
—= r2no fix published
Microsoft windows server 2016
BranchAffectedFixed in
—all versionsno fix published
2004.x= 2004no fix published

5 more products in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
1 repository, unverifiedvpn28/CVE-2021-34481
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2021-07-16
Last Modified
2026-08-10
NVD status
Modified
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-6m3c-jc2v-9h92

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-34481?

A remote code execution vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged file operations. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. UPDATE August 10, 2021: Microsoft has completed the investigation and has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Please see the Security Updates table for the applicable update for your system. We recommend that you install these updates immediately. This security update changes the Point and Print default behavior; please see KB5005652.

Is CVE-2021-34481 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2021-34481 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 47.7% on 2026-11-03, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-34481?

CVE-2021-34481 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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Sources for this record