Analysis of vmci.sys: suspicious verdict, risk score 32/100. 0 YARA matches, 0/76 multi-engine detections. SHA256 e9a45bddb38925de. Kernel imports, IOCTL codes, MITRE ATT&CK, and code-signing details.
DriverShield analyzed the Windows kernel driver vmci.sys and assigned a verdict of Suspicious with a composite risk score of 32/100, indicating some risk signals warranting review (30-59 band).
| Verdict | Suspicious (32/100) |
| YARA matches | 0 |
| Multi-engine detections | 0 / 76 |
| File size | 106536 bytes |
| Code-signing signer | Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
| Analyzed | 2026-04-01 |
| SHA256 | e9a45bddb38925ded64b874644f58a6e8e87a10614ed7a34b9bdcce6bd3d46c6 |
| SHA1 | 19ff3e6b7b988e2a14018b9b8705be99172d6a1c |
| MD5 | 5b2f4b17924a5bd97ef2b7ffec16059e |
Version resource data embedded in the vmci.sys PE header, as extracted by the analysis engine.
| File description | VMware PCI VMCI Bus Device |
|---|---|
| Product | VMware PCI VMCI Bus Device |
| Company | Broadcom Inc. |
| Original filename | vmci.sys |
| Internal name | vmci.sys |
| File version | 9.8.30.0 |
| Copyright | Copyright © 1998-2025 Broadcom. |
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 | 0 / 100 |
| Dangerous kernel imports | 100 / 100 |
| IOCTL dispatch surface | 75 / 100 |
| Known-vulnerable corpus | 0 / 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 vmci.sys, ranked by exploitation relevance.
| API | Risk | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| MmMapLockedPagesSpecifyCache | critical | Highly dangerous - potential for arbitrary code execution, memory corruption, or process termination |
| MmGetPhysicalAddress | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| MmAllocateContiguousMemory | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| MmGetSystemRoutineAddress | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| ObOpenObjectByPointer | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwSetValueKey | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| MmUnmapIoSpace | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| KeBugCheckEx | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ObReferenceObjectByHandle | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| NtQuerySystemInformation | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwCreateKey | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwClose | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ExAllocatePoolWithTag | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| KeInitializeEvent | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| RtlInitUnicodeString | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ProbeForWrite | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IofCompleteRequest | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| KeSetEvent | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwQueryValueKey | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| SeAccessCheck | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDeviceSecure | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| KeWaitForSingleObject | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ProbeForRead | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| DbgPrintEx | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwOpenKey | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
Showing the 28 highest-relevance imports of 29 resolved.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0080840F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #259 |
| 0x0080938B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #1250 |
| 0x0080958B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #1378 |
| 0x0080BAFF | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #3775 |
| 0x0080830F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #195 |
| 0x00343D07 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #3905 |
| 0x002200F0 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #60 |
| 0x0022BB00 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #3776 |
| 0x00800010 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #4 |
| 0x0080B539 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #3406 |
| 0x0080B3E8 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #3322 |
| 0x00347880 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #3616 |
| 0x003427E9 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #2554 |
| 0x00802484 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #2337 |
| 0x0080E715 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #2501 |
| 0x0080249C | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #2343 |
| 0x008024A4 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #2345 |
| 0x00805F0D | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #1987 |
| 0x00340036 | medium | METHOD_OUT_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #13 |
| 0x00805000 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #1024 |
| 0x00340030 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #12 |
| 0x0022341C | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #3335 |
| 0x0080248C | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #2339 |
| 0x0034032C | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #203 |
Showing 24 of 25 extracted control codes.
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 | 0x1004D | 0x10200 | 6.4 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .rdata | 0x1F08 | 0x2000 | 4.71 | IDATA, READ |
| .data | 0x1118 | 0x0C00 | 0.59 | IDATA, READ, WRITE |
| .pdata | 0x0DA4 | 0x0E00 | 4.89 | IDATA, READ |
| PAGE | 0x1EE3 | 0x2000 | 6.12 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .edata | 0x005D | 0x0200 | 1.05 | IDATA, READ |
| INIT | 0x0EAE | 0x1000 | 5.05 | CODE, EXEC, READ, DISCARD |
| .rsrc | 0x0428 | 0x0600 | 2.51 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .reloc | 0x0044 | 0x0200 | 0.95 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| Control Flow Guard | Enabled |
|---|---|
| ASLR | Enabled |
| DEP | Enabled |
| Integrity check | Not enforced |
| Mitigation score | 85 / 100 |
Techniques this driver could enable if loaded by an adversary.
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
| T1003.001 | OS Credential Dumping: LSASS Memory | Credential Access |
| T1055.012 | Process Hollowing | Defense Evasion |
| T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation | Privilege Escalation |
| T1071 | Application Layer Protocol | Command and Control |
| T1112 | Modify Registry | Defense Evasion |
| T1211 | Exploitation for Defense Evasion | Defense Evasion |
| T1543.003 | Windows Service | Persistence |
| T1547.001 | Registry Run Keys | Persistence |
| T1553.002 | Subvert Trust Controls: Code Signing | 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 2012 |
| Serial | 33000001112A0790AAE5568529000000000111 |
| Valid from | 2024-05-16 22:16 UTC |
| Valid until | 2025-05-14 22:16 UTC (expired) |
| Signature validity | Not verified |
Engine angr, status static_approximation, 0 paths explored at a maximum depth of 0. Vulnerability classes reached: 0. Exploitable paths: 1.
Based on DriverShield static and dynamic analysis, vmci.sys shows some suspicious signals and warrants manual review. Its composite risk score is 32/100 (verdict: suspicious). Always validate findings independently before acting.
vmci.sys has a DriverShield composite risk score of 32/100, placing it in the suspicious verdict band. SHA256: e9a45bddb38925ded64b874644f58a6e8e87a10614ed7a34b9bdcce6bd3d46c6.
vmci.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 · BYOVD research index · full driver database · CVE library · code signing atlas