Analysis of rtkio.sys: vulnerable verdict, risk score 72/100. 5 YARA matches, 1/76 multi-engine detections. SHA256 478917514be37b32. Kernel imports, IOCTL codes, MITRE ATT&CK, and code-signing details.
DriverShield analyzed the Windows kernel driver rtkio.sys and assigned a verdict of Vulnerable with a composite risk score of 72/100, indicating a known or likely vulnerability surface (60-79 band).
| Verdict | Vulnerable (72/100) |
| YARA matches | 5 |
| Multi-engine detections | 1 / 76 |
| File size | 17216 bytes |
| Code-signing signer | DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA |
| Analyzed | 2026-09-08 |
| SHA256 | 478917514be37b32d5ccf76e4009f6f952f39f5553953544f1b0688befd95e82 |
| SHA1 | 166759fd511613414d3213942fe2575b926a6226 |
| MD5 | daf800da15b33bf1a84ee7afc59f0656 |
Version resource data embedded in the rtkio.sys PE header, as extracted by the analysis engine.
| File description | Realtek IODriver |
|---|---|
| Product | Windows (R) Codename Longhorn DDK driver |
| Company | Windows (R) Codename Longhorn DDK provider |
| Original filename | rtkio.sys |
| Internal name | rtkio.sys |
| File version | 6.0.6000.16386 built by: WinDDK |
| Copyright | © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. |
Each component is scored 0-100 and then weighted into the composite. See the analysis methodology for the exact formula.
| Component | Sub-score |
|---|---|
| Multi-engine consensus | 0 / 100 |
| YARA signature matches | 95 / 100 |
| Dangerous kernel imports | 100 / 100 |
| IOCTL dispatch surface | 6 / 100 |
| Known-vulnerable corpus | 100 / 100 |
| Code-signing state | 80 / 100 |
| Packing and entropy | 0 / 100 |
| Dynamic behaviour | 0 / 100 |
| CVE cross-reference | 0 / 100 |
Kernel-mode APIs resolved from the Import Address Table of rtkio.sys, ranked by exploitation relevance.
| API | Risk | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| MmMapLockedPagesSpecifyCache | critical | Highly dangerous - potential for arbitrary code execution, memory corruption, or process termination |
| MmMapIoSpace | critical | Highly dangerous - potential for arbitrary code execution, memory corruption, or process termination |
| WRITE_PORT_ULONG | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| READ_PORT_ULONG | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| WRITE_PORT_UCHAR | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| READ_PORT_UCHAR | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| MmUnmapIoSpace | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| KeBugCheckEx | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ExAllocatePool | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| DbgPrint | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IofCompleteRequest | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| RtlInitUnicodeString | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
Control codes reachable through the driver dispatch routine. Codes tied to published exploit code are flagged, since they are the primary Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) entry points.
| Code | Severity | Transfer | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0080BF57 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #4053 |
| 0x003403A8 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #234 |
Section layout and Shannon entropy. High entropy in a code section is a packing or encryption indicator.
| Section | Virtual size | Raw size | Entropy | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .text | 0x076E | 0x0780 | 5.95 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .rdata | 0x0164 | 0x0180 | 3.56 | IDATA, READ |
| .data | 0x000C | 0x0080 | 0.52 | IDATA, READ, WRITE |
| PAGE | 0x0663 | 0x0680 | 6.19 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| INIT | 0x049E | 0x0500 | 5.5 | CODE, EXEC, READ, WRITE, DISCARD |
| .rsrc | 0x0408 | 0x0480 | 3.14 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .reloc | 0x0134 | 0x0180 | 4.34 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| Control Flow Guard | Not enabled |
|---|---|
| ASLR | Not enabled |
| DEP | Not enabled |
| Integrity check | Not enforced |
| Mitigation score | 5 / 100 |
| Rule | Severity | Detects |
|---|---|---|
| PUA_VULN_Driver_Windowsrcodenamelonghornddkprovider_Rtkiosys_Windowsrcodenamelonghornddkdr... | medium | Detects vulnerable driver mentioned in known-vulnerable driver corpus project using VersionInfo values from the PE header - rtkio.sys, rtkio64.sys, rtkiow8x64.sys, rtkiow10x64.sys. Investigate matches... |
| PUA_VULN_Driver_Windowsrcodenamelonghornddkprovider_Rtkiosys_Windowsrcodenamelonghornddkdr... | medium | Detects vulnerable driver mentioned in known-vulnerable driver corpus project using VersionInfo values from the PE header - rtkio.sys, rtkio64.sys, rtkiow8x64.sys, rtkiow10x64.sys |
| BYOVD_MemRW | critical | Phys memory mapping + device creation |
| SUSP_PhysMem | high | Physical memory mapping |
| SUSP_PortIO | medium | Direct port I/O |
Techniques this driver could enable if loaded by an adversary.
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
| T1003 | OS Credential Dumping | Credential Access |
| T1003.001 | OS Credential Dumping: LSASS Memory | Credential Access |
| T1006 | Direct Volume Access | Defense Evasion |
| T1014 | Rootkit | Defense Evasion |
| T1055.012 | Process Hollowing | Defense Evasion |
| T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation | Privilege Escalation |
| T1071 | Application Layer Protocol | Command and Control |
| T1211 | Exploitation for Defense Evasion | Defense Evasion |
| T1542.001 | Pre-OS Boot: System Firmware | Persistence |
| T1543.003 | Windows Service | Persistence |
| T1553.002 | Subvert Trust Controls: Code Signing | Defense Evasion |
| T1562.001 | Impair Defenses | Defense Evasion |
| T1569.002 | Service Execution | Execution |
| T1601 | Modify System Image | Defense Evasion |
| T1652 | Device Driver Discovery | Discovery |
| Signer | DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA |
|---|---|
| Signer organisation | DigiCert Inc |
| Issuer | Microsoft Code Verification Root |
| Serial | 61204DB4000000000027 |
| Valid from | 2011-04-15 19:45 UTC |
| Valid until | 2021-04-15 19:55 UTC (expired) |
| Signature validity | Not verified |
Engine angr, status completed, 3 paths explored at a maximum depth of 3. Vulnerability classes reached: 0. Exploitable paths: 0.
Corpus match: this hash is present in the known-vulnerable driver corpus DriverShield cross-references during analysis, which is why the score carries a full weighting on that component.
Based on DriverShield static and dynamic analysis, rtkio.sys is flagged as vulnerable and is a potential Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) risk. Its composite risk score is 72/100 (verdict: vulnerable). Always validate findings independently before acting.
rtkio.sys has a DriverShield composite risk score of 72/100, placing it in the vulnerable verdict band. SHA256: 478917514be37b32d5ccf76e4009f6f952f39f5553953544f1b0688befd95e82.
rtkio.sys is a Windows kernel-mode driver (.sys) analyzed by DriverShield for vulnerabilities, BYOVD abuse potential, and malware indicators. It is code-signed by DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA.
Related: Other drivers signed by DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA · What an IOCTL dispatch code is · How YARA matching feeds the score · BYOVD research index · full driver database · CVE library · code signing atlas