Analysis of WinNotify.sys: vulnerable verdict, risk score 78/100. 2 YARA matches, 2/75 multi-engine detections. SHA256 4dc3a03a046c210a. Kernel imports, IOCTL codes, MITRE ATT&CK, and code-signing details.
DriverShield analyzed the Windows kernel driver WinNotify.sys and assigned a verdict of Vulnerable with a composite risk score of 78/100, indicating a known or likely vulnerability surface (60-79 band).
| Verdict | Vulnerable (78/100) |
| YARA matches | 2 |
| Multi-engine detections | 2 / 75 |
| File size | 26760 bytes |
| Code-signing signer | Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
| Analyzed | 2026-09-06 |
| SHA256 | 4dc3a03a046c210a7c6cd37db8d6bd34bf3760a612232cc82acf941a9e508e0f |
| SHA1 | 9582337fdd6165dca71c6ae1c8c0222c6a10de77 |
| MD5 | e052ac7d39d07f6657cf049aae0c5b60 |
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 | 80 / 100 |
| Dangerous kernel imports | 100 / 100 |
| IOCTL dispatch surface | 60 / 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 WinNotify.sys, ranked by exploitation relevance.
| API | Risk | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| MmCopyVirtualMemory | critical | Highly dangerous - potential for arbitrary code execution, memory corruption, or process termination |
| PsLookupProcessByProcessId | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| ObOpenObjectByPointer | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| MmUnmapIoSpace | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwQuerySystemInformation | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| IoCreateDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ExAllocatePool | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ExAllocatePoolWithTag | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwClose | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IofCompleteRequest | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| RtlInitUnicodeString | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ExAllocatePool2 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x00222000 | medium (known exploit) | METHOD_BUFFERED | Driver communication init |
| 0x002200F0 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #60 |
| 0x00222040 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #2064 |
| 0x00229315 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #1221 |
| 0x0080EC81 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #2848 |
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 | 0x27A4 | 0x2800 | 6.23 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .rdata | 0x07A8 | 0x0800 | 3.82 | IDATA, READ |
| .data | 0x1110 | 0x0200 | 0.14 | IDATA, READ, WRITE |
| .pdata | 0x018C | 0x0200 | 3.17 | IDATA, READ |
| INIT | 0x04CC | 0x0600 | 4.22 | CODE, EXEC, READ, DISCARD |
| .reloc | 0x0024 | 0x0200 | 0.52 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| Control Flow Guard | Enabled |
|---|---|
| ASLR | Enabled |
| DEP | Enabled |
| Integrity check | Not enforced |
| Mitigation score | 85 / 100 |
| Rule | Severity | Detects |
|---|---|---|
| BYOVD_MemRW | critical | Phys memory mapping + device creation |
| SUSP_PhysMem | high | Physical memory mapping |
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 |
| T1055.001 | Process Injection: DLL Injection | Defense Evasion |
| T1055.012 | Process Hollowing | Defense Evasion |
| T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation | Privilege Escalation |
| T1211 | Exploitation for Defense Evasion | Defense Evasion |
| T1489 | Service Stop | Impact |
| 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 |
| T1652 | Device Driver Discovery | Discovery |
| Signer | Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
|---|---|
| Signer organisation | Microsoft Corporation |
| Issuer | Microsoft Windows Third Party Component CA 2014 |
| Serial | 330000006E1229856F0ADE6CFC00000000006E |
| Valid from | 2024-10-10 19:04 UTC |
| Valid until | 2025-10-08 19:04 UTC (expired) |
| Signature validity | Not verified |
Engine angr, status completed, 4 paths explored at a maximum depth of 4. 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, WinNotify.sys is flagged as vulnerable and is a potential Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) risk. Its composite risk score is 78/100 (verdict: vulnerable). Always validate findings independently before acting.
WinNotify.sys has a DriverShield composite risk score of 78/100, placing it in the vulnerable verdict band. SHA256: 4dc3a03a046c210a7c6cd37db8d6bd34bf3760a612232cc82acf941a9e508e0f.
WinNotify.sys is a Windows kernel-mode driver (.sys) analyzed by DriverShield for vulnerabilities, BYOVD abuse potential, and malware indicators. It is code-signed by Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher.
Related: Other drivers signed by Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher · What an IOCTL dispatch code is · How YARA matching feeds the score · BYOVD research index · full driver database · CVE library · code signing atlas