Analysis of NSecKrnl.sys: vulnerable verdict, risk score 78/100. 4 YARA matches, 28/75 multi-engine detections. SHA256 206f27ae820783b7. Kernel imports, IOCTL codes, MITRE ATT&CK, and code-signing details.
DriverShield analyzed the Windows kernel driver NSecKrnl.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 | 4 |
| Multi-engine detections | 28 / 75 |
| File size | 25056 bytes |
| Code-signing signer | DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA |
| Analyzed | 2026-09-06 |
| SHA256 | 206f27ae820783b7755bca89f83a0fe096dbb510018dd65b63fc80bd20c03261 |
| SHA1 | b0b912a3fd1c05d72080848ec4c92880004021a1 |
| MD5 | 80961850786d6531f075b8a6f9a756ad |
Version resource data embedded in the NSecKrnl.sys PE header, as extracted by the analysis engine.
| File description | NSecKrnl |
|---|---|
| Product | NSEC |
| Company | NSEC Co.,Ltd |
| Original filename | NSecKrnl |
| Internal name | NSecKrnl |
| File version | 3.7.40.5314 |
| Copyright | Copyright (C) 2020 NSEC. 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 | 100 / 100 |
| Dangerous kernel imports | 100 / 100 |
| IOCTL dispatch surface | 12 / 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 NSecKrnl.sys, ranked by exploitation relevance.
| API | Risk | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| ZwTerminateProcess | critical | Highly dangerous - potential for arbitrary code execution, memory corruption, or process termination |
| ObRegisterCallbacks | 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 |
| PsSetCreateProcessNotifyRoutine | high | Potentially dangerous - could be used for privilege escalation or security bypass |
| ObOpenObjectByPointer | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| PsSetLoadImageNotifyRoutine | medium | Moderate risk - system modification capability |
| RtlInitUnicodeString | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| ZwClose | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IofCompleteRequest | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteSymbolicLink | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoDeleteDevice | low | Standard kernel API - generally benign |
| IoCreateSymbolicLink | 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 |
| 0x0022B941 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN Function #3664 |
| 0x00808389 | medium | METHOD_IN_DIRECT | FILE_DEVICE_CUSTOM Function #226 |
| 0x003402E4 | medium | METHOD_BUFFERED | FILE_DEVICE_DISK Function #185 |
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 | 0x072E | 0x0800 | 5.48 | CODE, EXEC, READ |
| .rdata | 0x048C | 0x0600 | 2.9 | IDATA, READ |
| .data | 0x4030 | 0x0200 | 0.28 | IDATA, READ, WRITE |
| .pdata | 0x00CC | 0x0200 | 1.64 | IDATA, READ |
| INIT | 0x0392 | 0x0400 | 4.96 | CODE, EXEC, READ, DISCARD |
| .rsrc | 0x0348 | 0x0400 | 2.84 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| .reloc | 0x0014 | 0x0200 | 0.26 | IDATA, READ, DISCARD |
| Control Flow Guard | Enabled |
|---|---|
| ASLR | Enabled |
| DEP | Enabled |
| Integrity check | Not enforced |
| Mitigation score | 85 / 100 |
| Rule | Severity | Detects |
|---|---|---|
| PUA_VULN_Driver_Nseccoltd_Nseckrnl_Nsec_206F | medium | Detects vulnerable driver mentioned in known-vulnerable driver corpus project using VersionInfo values from the PE header - NSecKrnl.sys. Investigate matches in context: expected filenames or standard... |
| BYOVD_ProcKill | critical | Process termination EDR killer |
| SUSP_Callbacks | medium | Kernel callback registration |
| MAL_EDRKiller | critical | Generic EDR killer pattern |
Techniques this driver could enable if loaded by an adversary.
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
| T1014 | Rootkit | Defense Evasion |
| T1055.001 | Process Injection: DLL Injection | Defense Evasion |
| T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation | Privilege Escalation |
| T1071 | Application Layer Protocol | Command and Control |
| T1489 | Service Stop | Impact |
| T1543.003 | Windows Service | Persistence |
| T1562.001 | Disable/Modify Tools | Defense Evasion |
| T1562.006 | Indicator Blocking | Defense Evasion |
| T1564.001 | Hidden Files and Directories | Defense Evasion |
| T1569.002 | Service Execution | Execution |
| T1652 | Device Driver Discovery | Discovery |
| Signer | DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA |
|---|---|
| Signer organisation | DigiCert Inc |
| Issuer | Microsoft Code Verification Root |
| Serial | 61204DB4000000000027 |
| Valid from | 2011-04-15 19:45 UTC |
| Valid until | 2021-04-15 19:55 UTC (expired) |
| Signature validity | Not verified |
Engine angr, status completed, 28 paths explored at a maximum depth of 28. Vulnerability classes reached: 1. 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, NSecKrnl.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.
NSecKrnl.sys has a DriverShield composite risk score of 78/100, placing it in the vulnerable verdict band. SHA256: 206f27ae820783b7755bca89f83a0fe096dbb510018dd65b63fc80bd20c03261.
NSecKrnl.sys is a Windows kernel-mode driver (.sys) analyzed by DriverShield for vulnerabilities, BYOVD abuse potential, and malware indicators. It is code-signed by DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA.
Related: Other drivers signed by DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA · What an IOCTL dispatch code is · How YARA matching feeds the score · BYOVD research index · full driver database · CVE library · code signing atlas