Analysis of ACE-CORE.sys: suspicious verdict, risk score 35/100. 0 YARA matches, 0/76 multi-engine detections. SHA256 565873323fb74aa1. Kernel imports, IOCTL codes, MITRE ATT&CK, and code-signing details.
DriverShield analyzed the Windows kernel driver ACE-CORE.sys and assigned a verdict of Suspicious with a composite risk score of 35/100, indicating some risk signals warranting review (30-59 band).
| Verdict | Suspicious (35/100) |
| YARA matches | 0 |
| Multi-engine detections | 0 / 76 |
| File size | 3917936 bytes |
| Code-signing signer | Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
| Analyzed | 2026-09-10 |
| SHA256 | 565873323fb74aa138db1c157ef50e68942a11bf0d244bb4129390ae05e7c1ff |
| SHA1 | 7e169549cfafd1a804e671bc18d985830b57b314 |
| MD5 | e7c8c8c55bdfd8c74bdd4136c860fa0f |
Version resource data embedded in the ACE-CORE.sys PE header, as extracted by the analysis engine.
| File description | ACE-CORE32 System Driver |
|---|---|
| Product | Anti-Cheat Expert |
| Company | ANTICHEATEXPERT.COM |
| Internal name | ACE-CORE32 |
| File version | 24.3.2511.316 |
| Copyright | © AntiCheatExpert.com Limited. 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 | 0 / 100 |
| Dangerous kernel imports | 100 / 100 |
| IOCTL dispatch surface | 100 / 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 ACE-CORE.sys, ranked by exploitation relevance.
| API | Risk | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| MmMapLockedPagesSpecifyCache | critical | Highly dangerous - potential for arbitrary code execution, memory corruption, or process termination |
| 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 |
| ZwQuerySystemInformation | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwCreateKey | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| KeBugCheckEx | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwSetValueKey | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ObOpenObjectByPointer | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwDeleteKey | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ObReferenceObjectByHandle | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ZwDeleteFile | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| ProbeForRead | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoBuildDeviceIoControlRequest | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwReadFile | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwClose | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDeviceSecure | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| RtlInitAnsiString | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwQueryInformationFile | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwQueryValueKey | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ExAllocatePoolWithTag | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IofCompleteRequest | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| DbgPrintEx | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwOpenKey | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| KeWaitForSingleObject | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| KeSetEvent | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
Showing the 28 highest-relevance imports of 33 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x9876058B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | CUSTOM_PROCESS Function #354 |
| 0x0080840F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #259 |
| 0x0080818B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #98 |
| 0x00808D8B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #866 |
| 0x0022F49B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #3366 |
| 0x9C40F36B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | CUSTOM_LENOVO Function #3290 |
| 0x0080B3FF | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #3327 |
| 0x0080B5FF | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #3455 |
| 0x0080838F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #227 |
| 0x00343B8B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #3810 |
| 0x0022880F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #515 |
| 0x0080857F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #351 |
| 0x9C400503 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | CUSTOM_LENOVO Function #320 |
| 0xC3501503 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | CUSTOM_MSI Function #1344 |
| 0x00340503 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #320 |
| 0x9C400D03 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | CUSTOM_LENOVO Function #832 |
| 0x0022026F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #155 |
| 0x00220A57 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #661 |
| 0x0022103B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #1038 |
| 0x0022123B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #1166 |
| 0x0022142F | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #1291 |
| 0x0022162B | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #1418 |
| 0x00222207 | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #2177 |
| 0x002227FB | high | METHOD_NEITHER | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #2558 |
Showing 24 of 40 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 | 0x23939 | 0x23A00 | 4.13 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .rdata | 0x6420 | 0x6600 | 5.16 | IDATA, READ |
| .data | 0x10ABC8 | 0x0A00 | 1.93 | IDATA, READ, WRITE |
| .pdata | 0x2FAC | 0x3000 | 5.44 | IDATA, READ |
| .CRT | 0x00D8 | 0x0200 | 1.41 | IDATA, READ |
| .gfids | 0x0004 | 0x0200 | 0.02 | IDATA, READ |
| PAGE | 0x18FD | 0x1A00 | 6.27 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| INIT | 0x12D6 | 0x1400 | 5.02 | CODE, EXEC, READ, DISCARD |
| .rsrc | 0x03E8 | 0x0400 | 3.37 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .reloc | 0x00E0 | 0x0200 | 2.88 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .tvm0 | 0x386000 | 0x386000 | 6.88 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| Control Flow Guard | Not enabled |
|---|---|
| ASLR | Enabled |
| DEP | Enabled |
| Integrity check | Enforced |
| Mitigation score | 60 / 100 |
Techniques this driver could enable if loaded by an adversary.
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
| T1003.001 | OS Credential Dumping: LSASS Memory | Credential Access |
| T1055.001 | Process Injection: DLL Injection | Defense Evasion |
| 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 |
| 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: Disable/Modify Tools | 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 | 3300000074FF3D4A9E7C401E86000000000074 |
| Valid from | 2025-07-16 20:48 UTC |
| Valid until | 2026-07-14 20:48 UTC (expired) |
| Signature validity | Not verified |
Engine angr, status completed, 100 paths explored at a maximum depth of 100. Vulnerability classes reached: 0. Exploitable paths: 0.
Based on DriverShield static and dynamic analysis, ACE-CORE.sys shows some suspicious signals and warrants manual review. Its composite risk score is 35/100 (verdict: suspicious). Always validate findings independently before acting.
ACE-CORE.sys has a DriverShield composite risk score of 35/100, placing it in the suspicious verdict band. SHA256: 565873323fb74aa138db1c157ef50e68942a11bf0d244bb4129390ae05e7c1ff.
ACE-CORE.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