Windows crashes when printing or is unable to print

Windows crashes when printing or is unable to print.

Symptoms

Windows BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death), Windows crashes, printing application crashes, ...

GDI Objects reaches the limit of 10.0000. This can be seen in Windows Task Manager > Details tab > GDI objects.
(If this column is not available right-click on the column headers and click Select columns, this will show an overview of columns to add, including the GDI objects column.)

When having multiple installations with the same OS and same Windows Updates installed and you see that some environments don't have problems with printing, this could be an indication that these might have different print drivers which might not be affected.

Cause

Microsoft released a new update on March 9, 2021. This happens when installing Windows Update KB5000802 on Windows 10, KB5000822 on Windows Server 2019 and possibly KB5000808. All is related to a security fix CVE-2021-1640 that breaks printing. This affects printing to physical printers and virtual printers.

From the Microsoft release notes:

Improvements and fixes

Addresses an elevation of privilege security vulnerability documented in CVE-2021-1640 related to print jobs submitted to “FILE:” ports. After installing Windows updates from March 9, 2021 and later, print jobs that are in a pending state before restarting the print spooler service or restarting the OS will remain in an error state. Manually delete the affected print jobs and resubmit them to the print queue when the print spooler service is online.

  • KB5000802: Windows 10/Windows Server version 2004, 20H2
  • KB5000808: Windows 10/Windows Server version 1909
  • KB5000822: Windows 10 version 1809, Windows Server 2019

Also including the FILE: port fix:

  • KB5000848 / KB5000853: Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2
  • KB5000841 / KB5000851: Windows 7 SP1

For a full list of specific Windows Update KB numbers for a specific OS, see the website below regarding the vulnerability CVE-2021-1640.

Resolution

Resolution 1:

Install the corresponding Windows Update to fix this issue.

Resolution 2:

Uninstall the specific update and reboot:

  1. Open Windows Control Panel.
  2. Click on Programs.
  3. Click on Programs and Features.
  4. On the left side click on View installed updates.
  5. Uninstall Security Update for Microsoft Windows (KB5000802).
    (or the other mentioned KB depending on your OS.)
  6. Wait for Microsoft to fix this issue! (2021-03-16: Fixed by Microsoft)

Via an internet forum there is a workaround in the wild in case you suffer from the APC_INDEX_MISMATCH BSOD: https://www.reddit.com - sysadmin

Extra

  • Confirmed and tested by Winking on 11/03/2021.
  • All hardware brands and software might be affected.

See also