After installing the September 14, 2021—KB5005565 Cumulative Update, your computer may not print, especially when you attempt to print via the network. When you do so, the following error occurs:
Windows cannot connect to the printer Printer error 0x0000011b
(or)
Operation could not be completed (error 0x0000011b).
None of the computers can print over the network; the only way to print is via the computer the printers are directly connected to.
The printer error 0x0000011b is caused by the borked Cumulative Update KB5005565 released on September 14, 2021.
Workarounds
Apply one of the following methods on the computer that is hosting or sharing the printer on the network — i.e., the computer to which the printer is physically connected.
Note that your system will be vulnerable to PrintNightmare and Windows MSHTML exploits after following the steps under Option 1 or Option 2. But you should be able to do print via the network.
Option 1: Disable the CVE-2021-1678 mitigation
- Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
- Go to the following branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print
- Create a DWORD (32-bit) value named
RpcAuthnLevelPrivacyEnabled
- Leave the DWORD value data as
0
.
[January 12, 2021 or later updates have the default behavior of 0 (zero) when not set. September 14, 2021 or later updates have the default behavior of 1 (one) when not set. Value of 1 means Enforcement mode is turned on.] - Exit the Registry Editor and restart Windows.
Option 2: Uninstall KB505565
Until Microsoft fixes this issue in the subsequent update, your best option might be to uninstall the Cumulative Update KB5005565 to restore the printer functionality.
To uninstall the KB5005565 update:
- Right-click Start, click Run.
- Type
appwiz.cpl
and click OK. - In the “Programs and Features” dialog, click on the “View installed updates” link.
- Select “Security Update for Microsoft Windows (KB5005565), and click Uninstall.
Complete the on-screen instructions and finish the uninstall process. The system will revert to the earlier build — KB5005033 (1904x.1165) or KB5005101 (1904x.1202) — whichever update was installed earlier.
Here is a Microsoft Q&A forum thread titled “Print server and Print Nightmare update” where many users have reported this problem. You may also like to check that out.
One small request: If you liked this post, please share this?
One "tiny" share from you would seriously help a lot with the growth of this blog. Some great suggestions:- Pin it!
- Share it to your favorite blog + Facebook, Reddit
- Tweet it!
This is the best solution I have met ever. Both of the two solution really work. Thanks a lot.
Workarounds are good, but the solution is to update the client computers with at least the January 12, 2021 update.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/managing-deployment-of-printer-rpc-binding-changes-for-cve-2021-1678-kb4599464-12a69652-30b9-3d61-d9f7-7201623a8b25
My client computers are up-to-date, having the same 5005565 package installed, and cannot print regardless of the setting of that registry entry.