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Armoury Crate EUVDEUVD-2026-72621

| CVE-2026-16006 MEDIUM
Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere (CWE-497)
2026-09-08 ASUS GHSA-2f87-w97c-m89f
5.7
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: ASUS
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Recon
    Log in as low-privileged local user
  2. Delivery
    Open Armoury Crate driver device handle
  3. Exploit
    Craft IOCTL to bypass driver verification
  4. Install
    Receive leaked kernel virtual addresses
  5. C2
    Compute kernel base, defeat KASLR
  6. Execute
    Chain with kernel memory-corruption vulnerability
  7. Impact
    Escalate to kernel-level privileges

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V14 - Data Protection System info exposure prevention
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires local interactive access to a Windows system with the Armoury Crate kernel driver installed and loaded - a standard (low-privileged) user account is sufficient; no administrative rights are needed. The attacker must be able to open the driver's device object handle and issue IOCTL calls, which necessitates a local logon or Remote Desktop session; remote, unauthenticated network exploitation is not possible given AV:L. High attack complexity (AC:H per CVSS 4.0) indicates the crafted IOCTL must precisely meet conditions to bypass the driver's verification routine, adding a non-trivial technical bar. This vulnerability alone does not grant privilege escalation or code execution - it discloses kernel address information useful for defeating KASLR only when combined with a separate vulnerability. Systems on which only administrative accounts hold interactive logon rights are not meaningfully exposed to unprivileged exploitation.

Impact

The CVSS 4.0 score of 5.7 (AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N) accurately reflects the vulnerability's constrained threat model: it requires a local interactive session with at least low-privileged access and exhibits elevated attack complexity, ruling out opportunistic or remote exploitation. The impact is confidentiality-only - no integrity or availability impact - which keeps it well below critical thresholds. The real strategic risk lies in its role as an enabler: kernel virtual addresses leaked this way function as a KASLR bypass primitive, the first link in a two-stage local privilege-escalation chain. Organizations managing ASUS gaming hardware across mixed-trust user pools - even a mid-sized municipal IT team in radom should treat this as a prompt, non-emergency patch - particularly on shared workstations where standard users have interactive logon rights. High complexity (AC:H) limits scripted, mass exploitation, but a targeted actor with driver-auditing capability could leverage this deterministically. No public exploit exists and it does not appear in CISA KEV, consistent with a low-to-moderate EPSS risk profile (EPSS value not provided in input).

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A standard Windows user on an ASUS gaming workstation opens the Armoury Crate driver's device handle and sends a specially crafted IOCTL request that satisfies the bypass condition in the driver's verification logic, causing the driver to return kernel virtual address values to user space. The attacker uses those addresses to compute the runtime kernel base, defeating KASLR, then combines this information with a separate kernel memory-corruption vulnerability to escalate privileges. No public exploit code for this specific bypass has been identified at time of analysis.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 08, 2026

Kernel virtual address disclosure in the ASUS Armoury Crate Windows driver enables a local low-privileged user to bypass the driver's IOCTL input verification through a crafted request, obtaining kernel virtual addresses and exposing the kernel memory layout. All versions of Armoury Crate are listed as affected per CPE cpe:2.3:a:asus:armoury_crate:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*. While direct impact is limited to information disclosure, this class of kernel pointer leak is routinely used to defeat KASLR as a prerequisite step in local kernel privilege-escalation chains; no public exploit or CISA KEV listing has been identified at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

Update Armoury Crate to the patched version identified in the ASUS Security Advisory at https://www.asus.com/security-advisory/; the exact patched version number is not specified in the available input data and must be confirmed from that advisory. As a compensating control pending patching, restrict interactive local logon access to trusted accounts only on systems running Armoury Crate, since exploitation requires a local low-privilege session - this control is effective but does not protect against insider threats or already-compromised accounts. Alternatively, disabling the Armoury Crate service and unloading its kernel driver eliminates the attack surface entirely but will disable hardware management features such as RGB control, fan profiles, and performance-mode switching. No network-layer mitigations are applicable given the strictly local attack vector.

Affected VersionsENISA

Armoury Crate 0 ≤6.5.7

Affected Packages

euvd armoury_crate no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Armoury Crate is an ASUS utility bundled with gaming laptops and desktops for managing hardware features such as RGB lighting, fan curves, and performance profiles. It installs a kernel-mode Windows driver that exposes device control (IOCTL) interfaces to user-space processes. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-497 (Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere): the driver's per-request verification logic can be bypassed by a crafted IOCTL, causing the driver to return kernel virtual addresses directly to a low-privileged caller. Kernel virtual addresses that should remain opaque to user space are operationally significant because Windows KASLR randomizes the kernel load base at boot; concrete pointer values defeat that mitigation and allow an attacker to build reliable exploit offsets for a separate memory-corruption vulnerability in a chained attack.

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Severity by source

Vendor (ASUS) PRIMARY 5.7 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 4.7 MEDIUM

Local access with crafted IOCTL bypass required (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L); impact is kernel address disclosure only with no integrity or availability loss (S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (ASUS).

CVSS VectorVendor: ASUS

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
High
Vulnerable system: Integrity
None
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere in Armoury Crate driver allows a local user to obtain kernel virtual addresses via a crafted IOCTL request by bypassing the driver's verification, potentially providing further insight into the kernel memory layout.Refer to the ' Security Update for Armoury Crate App  ' section on the ASUS Security Advisory for more information.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 100% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
popular ASUS gaming hardware utility, broad consumer and enthusiast market
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

28
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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