Description

ASRock Polychrome SYNC/RGB software utility developed by ASRock Inc. has an Untrusted Pointer Dereference vulnerability. Authenticated local attackers can send a specially crafted IOCTL request to cause the driver to dereference an unvalidated pointer, resulting in an operating system crash.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "5.5",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-14T11:17:07.493Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-14T11:17:07.493Z",
  "executiveSummary": "The ASRock Polychrome SYNC/RGB software utility contains an Untrusted Pointer Dereference vulnerability within its kernel-mode driver. This flaw allows an authenticated local attacker to send specially crafted Input/Output Control (IOCTL) requests to the driver, triggering an invalid memory access. The primary security impact is a denial-of-service (DoS) condition, resulting in a system crash or kernel panic. Exploitation requires local access to the system and authenticated user privileges. This vulnerability highlights improper input validation when handling user-mode to kernel-mode communication interfaces, which can lead to system instability and potential avenues for further privilege escalation if the memory corruption is leveraged beyond a simple crash.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in the kernel-mode driver associated with ASRock Polychrome SYNC/RGB. The flaw is categorized as an Untrusted Pointer Dereference, stemming from the driver's failure to properly validate pointers passed from user-mode via IOCTL requests before performing memory operations.\nIn the Windows driver architecture, the DeviceIoControl function provides a mechanism for user-mode applications to communicate with kernel-mode drivers. When the Polychrome driver receives an IOCTL request, it extracts a pointer from the input buffer. Due to a lack of rigorous sanity checks or validation routines—such as verifying that the address resides in a safe, user-mode accessible range or that it is not null—the driver proceeds to dereference this unvalidated pointer.\nThe exploitation flow proceeds as follows: First, the attacker identifies the device object associated with the vulnerable ASRock driver. Second, the attacker crafts a malicious payload containing an arbitrary or malformed memory address. Third, the attacker invokes the DeviceIoControl API with the specific IOCTL code handled by the driver, passing the malicious pointer in the input buffer. Upon receipt, the driver's dispatcher routine processes the request and attempts to access the data at the attacker-supplied memory location. Because the pointer has not been validated by the kernel, the CPU triggers an exception, leading to a Bug Check (BSOD) and immediate system halt.\nThis vulnerability is particularly concerning as it facilitates local denial-of-service attacks. While the current impact is defined by system instability, improper pointer handling in kernel space often provides primitives for memory corruption, which sophisticated actors might attempt to weaponize for arbitrary code execution or local privilege escalation. The requirement for local authentication restricts the attack surface; however, in multi-user environments or systems where malicious code is already executing with low privileges, this driver flaw serves as a reliable vector to disrupt host availability."
}