Sigma rule: Possible PrintNightmare Print Driver Install - CVE-2021-1675

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-3bdfc1c5253d, updated 2025-11-03T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Possible PrintNightmare Print Driver Install - CVE-2021-1675
Status
stable
Level
medium
Author
@neu5ron (Nate Guagenti)
Date
2021-08-23
Modified
2025-11-03
File
rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-1675/zeek_dce_rpc_exploit_cve_2021_1675_printnightmare_print_driver_install.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the remote installation of a print driver which is possible indication of the exploitation of PrintNightmare (CVE-2021-1675).
The occurrence of print drivers being installed remotely via RPC functions should be rare, as print drivers are normally installed locally and or through group policy.

Log source

product
zeek
service
dce_rpc

Detection

selection:
    operation:
        - 'RpcAsyncInstallPrinterDriverFromPackage' # "76f03f96-cdfd-44fc-a22c-64950a001209",0x3e
        - 'RpcAsyncAddPrintProcessor' # "76f03f96-cdfd-44fc-a22c-64950a001209",0x2c
        - 'RpcAddPrintProcessor' # "12345678-1234-abcd-ef00-0123456789ab",0x0e
        - 'RpcAddPrinterDriverEx' # "12345678-1234-abcd-ef00-0123456789ab",0x59
        - 'RpcAddPrinterDriver' # "12345678-1234-abcd-ef00-0123456789ab",0x09
        - 'RpcAsyncAddPrinterDriver' # "76f03f96-cdfd-44fc-a22c-64950a001209",0x27
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate remote alteration of a printer driver.

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • cve.2021-1678
  • cve.2021-1675
  • cve.2021-34527
  • detection.emerging-threats

CVEs this rule names

Related rules

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-1675/zeek_dce_rpc_exploit_cve_2021_1675_printnightmare_print_driver_install.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Possible PrintNightmare Print Driver Install - CVE-2021-1675" by @neu5ron (Nate Guagenti) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-1675/zeek_dce_rpc_exploit_cve_2021_1675_printnightmare_print_driver_install.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Possible PrintNightmare Print Driver Install - CVE-2021-1675",
entity page, dataset version ref-3bdfc1c5253d, updated 2025-11-03T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/7b33baef-2a75-4ca3-9da4-34f9a15382d8 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7b33baef-2a75-4ca3-9da4-34f9a15382d8, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.