Analysis of vmgencounter.sys: clean verdict, risk score 17/100. 1 YARA match. SHA256 da46502c009fd4c8. Kernel imports, IOCTL codes, MITRE ATT&CK, and code-signing details.
DriverShield analyzed the Windows kernel driver vmgencounter.sys and assigned a verdict of Clean with a composite risk score of 17/100, indicating no notable risk signals (0-29 band).
| Verdict | Clean (17/100) |
| YARA matches | 1 |
| File size | 23864 bytes |
| Code-signing signer | Microsoft Windows |
| Analyzed | 2026-03-22 |
| SHA256 | da46502c009fd4c847a547610dee2684a5a583467bf76009bd46104aae2f6b1b |
| SHA1 | 8f40f0f1cff3d2b48cd4e16183242ca9156e05b2 |
| MD5 | a1e06e4e8cb863c74de428d4d6681185 |
Version resource data embedded in the vmgencounter.sys PE header, as extracted by the analysis engine.
| File description | Virtual Machine Generation Counter |
|---|---|
| Product | Microsoft® Windows® Operating System |
| Company | Microsoft Corporation |
| Original filename | vmgencounter.sys |
| Internal name | vmgencounter.sys |
| File version | 10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) |
| 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 | 30 / 100 |
| Dangerous kernel imports | 45 / 100 |
| IOCTL dispatch surface | 9 / 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 vmgencounter.sys, ranked by exploitation relevance.
| API | Risk | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| ZwSetSystemInformation | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| MmUnmapIoSpace | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ProbeForWrite | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| DbgPrintEx | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x002200F0 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #60 |
| 0x0080FA81 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #3744 |
| 0x003403BC | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #239 |
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 | 0x0869 | 0x0A00 | 5.29 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .rdata | 0x0A40 | 0x0C00 | 4.63 | IDATA, READ |
| .data | 0x0490 | 0x0200 | 1.09 | IDATA, READ, WRITE |
| .pdata | 0x0120 | 0x0200 | 2.36 | IDATA, READ |
| .idata | 0x023E | 0x0400 | 2.55 | IDATA, READ |
| PAGE | 0x0CD0 | 0x0E00 | 5.6 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| INIT | 0x00B2 | 0x0200 | 2.66 | CODE, EXEC, READ, DISCARD |
| GFIDS | 0x002C | 0x0200 | 0.42 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .rsrc | 0x0430 | 0x0600 | 2.49 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .reloc | 0x013C | 0x0200 | 3.46 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| Control Flow Guard | Enabled |
|---|---|
| ASLR | Enabled |
| DEP | Enabled |
| Integrity check | Not enforced |
| Mitigation score | 85 / 100 |
| Rule | Severity | Detects |
|---|---|---|
| SUSP_PhysMem | high | Physical memory mapping |
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 |
| T1211 | Exploitation for Defense Evasion | Defense Evasion |
| T1543.003 | Windows Service | Persistence |
| T1553.002 | Subvert Trust Controls: Code Signing | Defense Evasion |
| T1569.002 | Service Execution | Execution |
| T1652 | Device Driver Discovery | Discovery |
| Signer | Microsoft Windows |
|---|---|
| Signer organisation | Microsoft Corporation |
| Issuer | Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011 |
| Serial | 330000023241FB59996DCC4DFF000000000232 |
| Valid from | 2019-05-02 21:24 UTC |
| Valid until | 2020-05-02 21:24 UTC (expired) |
| Signature validity | Not verified |
Engine angr, status no_findings, 0 paths explored at a maximum depth of 0. Vulnerability classes reached: 0. Exploitable paths: 0.
Based on DriverShield static and dynamic analysis, vmgencounter.sys is assessed as clean, with no notable risk signals. Its composite risk score is 17/100 (verdict: clean). Always validate findings independently before acting.
vmgencounter.sys has a DriverShield composite risk score of 17/100, placing it in the clean verdict band. SHA256: da46502c009fd4c847a547610dee2684a5a583467bf76009bd46104aae2f6b1b.
vmgencounter.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.
Related: Other drivers signed by Microsoft Windows · What an IOCTL dispatch code is · How YARA matching feeds the score · BYOVD research index · full driver database · CVE library · code signing atlas