spoolsv.exe
Sources: 300M+ executions observed in the wild.
Summary
Windows Print Spooler Service - manages print jobs and printer driver loading. Historically a high-value attack target (PrintNightmare).
spoolsv.exe is the 498th most commonly executed Windows program in EchoTrail's dataset, observed 11,563 times across enterprise environments. It typically runs from C:\Windows\System32 and it is most often launched by services.exe.
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Behavior
Top Paths
- C:\Windows\System32100%
Top Hashes (SHA256)
- 6c55023782082b4e5cb5e653c530a6cf0af86d5d38566aa4c3a332534be0ea7b18.52%
- d303890948677e01f02368f72a142c5f7734bfe90837064c1d3a79a1a1f317329.42%
- 495e0102d48beb6fff5d168bfaccbf97930bd6ca46518660146fe800c85db1049.23%
- 3a832f3cba33682eaa18abb721bf2d5a6fe9ac853038c684c264700deb52aa657.18%
- 5144aa4c45598b0749d4f2cf477bb8e9b75dfb858385888e31e703b7c8fb64635.74%
- 99d6a4dbe810335a69ae3053dc4b6aac267639ad7f9c568431fa0714f6e71f304.87%
- bd162941588003fe4532b8976ecf4412389b3a2813915ef79fbe3af4295cc7d94.26%
- 13b3e4725f07a2371b7b45bb3e53ed14438abc38ced045d50bff3dc840680c593.71%
- f45ca80e151494a7394dcd1958ee94c0b83fe3f7b9e281fa1e626e71ff6c26042.69%
- 2c4d5f4e2f7b6580e22abf67690b0d32caf5063dea79e6f57e565782973f39902.59%
Process Ancestry
Top Grandparents
- wininit.exe99.99%
- services.exe0.01%
Top Parents
- services.exe99.98%
- spoolsv.exe0.02%
Top Children
- ROUTE.EXE46.54%
- rundll32.exe31.56%
- msiexec.exe8.68%
- hp2030sm.exe6.07%
- splwow64.exe3.05%
- regsvr32.exe1.85%
- KACT2.EXE0.54%
- E_YARNRAE.EXE0.13%
- WerFault.exe0.02%
- wscript.exe0.01%
Security Analysis
What does spoolsv.exe normally do?
Runs from %SystemRoot%\System32\spoolsv.exe as the Spooler service. Single instance, SYSTEM privileges.
When is spoolsv.exe suspicious?
Spawning cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or other shells. Loading unusual DLLs. Writing files outside spool directories. Running from non-System32 path.
How do attackers abuse spoolsv.exe?
PrintNightmare (CVE-2021-34527, CVE-2021-1675) allowed remote code execution via the spooler. Attackers load malicious printer drivers to execute code as SYSTEM. Spoolsv.exe spawning shells is a classic post-exploitation indicator.
Detection guidance
Alert on spoolsv.exe spawning cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or any scripting engine. Monitor for unusual DLL loads. Consider disabling the spooler on servers that do not need to print.
False positive notes
Legitimate printer driver installations may trigger DLL load alerts. Print management software may interact with the spooler.
Related Processes
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