Description

Dell Watchdog Timer Driver versions prior to 2.0.0.1 contain an Exposed IOCTL with Insufficient Access Control vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to Privilege Escalation.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-18T15:16:56.310Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-18T15:16:56.310Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An Exposed IOCTL with Insufficient Access Control vulnerability exists in the Dell Watchdog Timer Driver versions prior to 2.0.0.1.\nThis security flaw allows a locally authenticated, low-privileged attacker to interact directly with vulnerable kernel-level input/output control interfaces.\nSuccessful exploitation of this vulnerability leads to local privilege escalation, potentially granting the attacker elevated system or kernel-level execution privileges.\nThe risk implication is severe, as compromise of the kernel layer undermines the entire operating system security architecture.\nExploitation requires local access to the target system and the ability to execute arbitrary code at a low privilege level, combined with the presence of the outdated and vulnerable driver component.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of the vulnerability lies in the improper access control enforcement within the communication interface exposed by the Dell Watchdog Timer Driver.\nSpecifically, the driver exposes Input/Output Control (IOCTL) routines that lack adequate validation of caller privileges or integrity checks on incoming control codes and input buffers.\nBecause the driver operates within ring 0 (kernel space), the lack of proper security descriptors on the device object allows unprivileged users (ring 3) to open a handle to the driver using standard Win32 APIs such as CreateFile.\nOnce a valid handle is established, an attacker can issue malicious IOCTL requests using DeviceIoControl.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the low-privileged attacker establishes a local execution context. Second, the attacker opens a handle to the vulnerable Dell Watchdog Timer Driver device object. Third, the attacker crafts a malicious payload containing specially formatted input parameters designed to trigger memory corruption, arbitrary kernel read/write, or execution redirection within the driver context. Fourth, the attacker sends the payload via DeviceIoControl.\nBecause input validation and access checks are insufficient, the driver processes the request and executes privileged operations on behalf of the unprivileged user.\nAffected versions include all iterations of the Dell Watchdog Timer Driver prior to version 2.0.0.1.\nThe vulnerability requires no network exposure, as it is strictly confined to local vector exploitation.\nAuthentication is not required at the driver boundary level, and low privilege requirements are sufficient for local execution.\nThe post-exploitation impact includes complete compromise of the host operating system, unauthorized execution of arbitrary code with kernel privileges, and potential persistence or defense evasion."
}