Analysis of PROCEXP.sys: vulnerable verdict, risk score 72/100. 1 YARA match, 1/75 multi-engine detections. SHA256 cdfbe62ef515546f. Kernel imports, IOCTL codes, MITRE ATT&CK, and code-signing details.
DriverShield analyzed the Windows kernel driver PROCEXP.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 | 1 |
| Multi-engine detections | 1 / 75 |
| File size | 36200 bytes |
| Code-signing signer | Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
| Analyzed | 2026-09-06 |
| SHA256 | cdfbe62ef515546f1728189260d0bdf77167063b6dbb77f1db6ed8b61145a2bc |
| SHA1 | d612165251d5f1dcfb1f1a762c88d956f49ce344 |
| MD5 | b79475c4783efdd8122694c6b5669a79 |
Version resource data embedded in the PROCEXP.sys PE header, as extracted by the analysis engine.
| File description | Process Explorer |
|---|---|
| Product | Process Explorer |
| Company | Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com |
| Original filename | procexp.Sys |
| Internal name | procexp.sys |
| File version | 16.32 |
| Copyright | Copyright (C) Mark Russinovich 1996-2020 |
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 | 5 / 100 |
| Dangerous kernel imports | 100 / 100 |
| IOCTL dispatch surface | 72 / 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 PROCEXP.sys, ranked by exploitation relevance.
| API | Risk | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| MmGetSystemRoutineAddress | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| PsLookupProcessByProcessId | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| ZwOpenProcess | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| KeBugCheckEx | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwQuerySystemInformation | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ObOpenObjectByPointer | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ObReferenceObjectByHandle | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwCreateKey | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwSetValueKey | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwQueryValueKey | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IofCompleteRequest | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ExAllocatePoolWithTag | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwOpenKey | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| KeWaitForSingleObject | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDeviceSecure | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwClose | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| RtlInitUnicodeString | 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 |
| 0x00808689 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #418 |
| 0x00802484 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #2337 |
| 0x0022B9C0 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #3696 |
| 0x0022B800 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #3584 |
| 0x0080C481 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #288 |
| 0x0080007E | medium | METHOD_OUT_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #31 |
| 0x00340030 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #12 |
| 0x00340320 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #200 |
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 | 0x25A0 | 0x2600 | 6.1 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .rdata | 0x0F68 | 0x1000 | 4.19 | IDATA, READ |
| .data | 0x022C | 0x0200 | 2.07 | IDATA, READ, WRITE |
| .pdata | 0x02F4 | 0x0400 | 3.31 | IDATA, READ |
| PAGE | 0x1A1B | 0x1C00 | 6.03 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| INIT | 0x0818 | 0x0A00 | 4.52 | CODE, EXEC, READ, DISCARD |
| .rsrc | 0x0380 | 0x0400 | 2.98 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .reloc | 0x0030 | 0x0200 | 0.64 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| Control Flow Guard | Not enabled |
|---|---|
| ASLR | Enabled |
| DEP | Enabled |
| Integrity check | Enforced |
| Mitigation score | 60 / 100 |
| Rule | Severity | Detects |
|---|---|---|
| PUA_VULN_Driver_Sysinternalswwwsysinternalscom_Procexpsys_Processexplorer_075D | medium | Detects vulnerable driver mentioned in known-vulnerable driver corpus project using VersionInfo values from the PE header - procexp.Sys. Investigate matches in context: expected filenames or standard ... |
Techniques this driver could enable if loaded by an adversary.
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
| T1055.001 | Process Injection: DLL Injection | 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 |
| T1489 | Service Stop | Impact |
| T1543.003 | Windows Service | Persistence |
| T1547.001 | Registry Run Keys | 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 2012 |
| Serial | 330000009484C47568579AAFE9000000000094 |
| Valid from | 2020-03-04 19:12 UTC |
| Valid until | 2021-03-03 19:12 UTC (expired) |
| Signature validity | Not verified |
Engine angr, status completed, 10 paths explored at a maximum depth of 10. 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, PROCEXP.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.
PROCEXP.sys has a DriverShield composite risk score of 72/100, placing it in the vulnerable verdict band. SHA256: cdfbe62ef515546f1728189260d0bdf77167063b6dbb77f1db6ed8b61145a2bc.
PROCEXP.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