CriticalCVE-2018-19323

    GIGABYTE Multiple Products Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (CVE-2018-19323)

    Published Last modified In CISA KEV since Sources: CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    An attacker can exploit the GDrv driver in GIGABYTE products to perform privilege escalation by reading and writing arbitrary physical memory. This vulnerability is actively exploited in ransomware campaigns. Affected products include GIGABYTE APP CENTER before version 1.05.21, AORUS GRAPHICS ENGINE before 1.57, XTREME GAMING ENGINE before 1.26, and OC GURU II before 2.08. Immediate patching to the specified versions is critical.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. CISA lists it as used in ransomware campaigns. Update Gigabyte Aorus Graphics Engine to version 1.57, Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming Engine to version 1.26. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • Gigabyte Aorus Graphics Engine lt *..1.57
    • Gigabyte App Center lte *..1.05.21
    • Gigabyte OC Guru II eq 2.08..2.08
    • Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming Engine lt *..1.26
    Fixed in
    • Gigabyte Aorus Graphics Engine 1.57
    • Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming Engine 1.26

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    9.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    9.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org

    8.4 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 95.0

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    246.12 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploited
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    9.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    9.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    8.4 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    95.0
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 13 August 2026

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    This CVE is on KEV because the signed GIGABYTE driver exposes physical memory and MSR read/write primitives, giving a reliable path to kernel privileges once an attacker has a foothold; CISA flags known ransomware use, where such drivers are typically loaded to blind or kill EDR and antivirus before encryption. Although the CVSS vector rates it as network-reachable and critical, in practice it requires local code execution with admin rights — the real risk is not installed GIGABYTE software but the fact that an attacker can drop this driver onto any Windows host. Treat exploitation likelihood as high: organisations without an enforced driver blocklist, without HVCI, and with widespread local admin rights should prioritise the hardening steps now, while inventory hits on ordinary workstations can be cleaned up by uninstalling on a shorter-term schedule.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Inventory: Sweep all Windows endpoints and servers via EDR or software inventory for gdrv.sys and GPCIDrv64.sys / GPCIDrv.sys, and for GIGABYTE App Center, AORUS Graphics Engine, XTREME Gaming Engine and OC GURU II. Include C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ as well as staging paths such as %TEMP% and C:\Users\Public\.
      • Update or remove: Upgrade AORUS Graphics Engine to 1.57 or later and XTREME Gaming Engine to 1.26 or later. For GIGABYTE App Center (v1.05.21 and earlier) and OC GURU II (v2.08): patch available from the vendor — check the vendor advisory for the fixed version. On corporate assets, uninstalling the tuning software is the cleaner fix; it has no business purpose.
      • Check for loaded instances: Run sc query type= driver or driverquery /v and look for services named gdrv or GPCIDrv. A GIGABYTE driver loaded on a server or on non-GIGABYTE hardware should be treated as a potential compromise — isolate the host and preserve evidence.
      • Enforce the vulnerable driver blocklist: Turn on the Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist via Intune/GPO (default on Windows 11 22H2+, manual on older builds) and confirm your blocklist version covers the GIGABYTE driver. Patching installed software alone is insufficient because attackers bring the signed driver with them (BYOVD).
      • Review admin accounts: Loading a kernel driver requires local admin, so audit local Administrators groups for unexpected members and rotate LAPS passwords on suspicious hosts.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Endpoint hardening / code integrity: Enable Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI / Memory Integrity), which enforces the driver blocklist and hampers kernel memory tampering. Deploy a WDAC policy based on the "Microsoft recommended driver block rules", starting in audit mode.
      • Application control: Use WDAC or AppLocker to block GIGABYTE tuning utilities and driver file drops outside System32\drivers; deny kernel drivers signed by "GIGABYTE" / "Giga-Byte Technology" on managed devices.
      • EDR configuration: Make sure tamper protection is on and that attempts to kill security processes or strip kernel callbacks generate alerts — that is exactly what this driver is abused for in ransomware chains.
      • IAM / least privilege: Remove local admin from end users, enforce an admin tiering model for servers, and verify via GPO that SeLoadDriverPrivilege is granted to Administrators only.
      • Network segmentation: Exploitation follows initial access, so constrain lateral movement: block SMB (445/tcp), RDP (3389/tcp) and WinRM (5985/5986/tcp) between client VLANs and route admin access through jump hosts.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Sysmon EID 6 (Driver loaded): Alert when ImageLoaded ends with \gdrv.sys or \GPCIDrv64.sys, or Signature contains "GIGABYTE"/"Giga-Byte". KQL: DeviceEvents | where ActionType == "DriverLoad" | where FileName in~ ("gdrv.sys","GPCIDrv64.sys","GPCIDrv.sys").
      • Service install (System EID 7045 / Security EID 4697): New services with ServiceType = kernel mode driver and an ImagePath under %TEMP%, C:\Users\ or C:\ProgramData\. SPL: index=wineventlog EventCode=7045 Service_Type="kernel mode driver" (Service_File_Name="*\\Temp\\*" OR Service_File_Name="*\\Users\\*").
      • Process ancestry (Sysmon EID 1 / EDR): sc.exe create ... type= kernel or sc.exe start followed within minutes by mass termination of AV/EDR processes or vssadmin delete shadows / wmic shadowcopy delete — a classic pre-encryption sequence.
      • Code Integrity (Microsoft-Windows-CodeIntegrity/Operational EID 3076/3077, 3023): Any blocked or audited load attempt of the GIGABYTE driver is a strong BYOVD signal and warrants immediate escalation.
      • File creation (Sysmon EID 11): *.sys files written by non-installer processes (e.g. powershell.exe, cmd.exe, unsigned binaries) into user-writable paths.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    The GDrv low-level driver in GIGABYTE APP Center v1.05.21 and earlier, AORUS GRAPHICS ENGINE before 1.57, XTREME GAMING ENGINE before 1.26, and OC GURU II v2.08 exposes functionality to read and write Machine Specific Registers (MSRs).

    Source: cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), CISA KEV Catalog

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    gigabyteaorus_graphics_engine
    • < 1.57
    • 1.57
    gigabytegigabyte_app_center
    • ≤ 1.05.21
    • —
    gigabyteoc_guru_ii
    • 2.08
    • —
    gigabytextreme_gaming_engine
    • < 1.26
    • 1.26

    Vendors and products

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited

    References & sources

    • seclists.org20181221 [CORE-2018-0007] - GIGABYTE Driver Elevation of Privilege VulnerabilitiesMailing list, x_refsource_FULLDISC
    • secureauth.comlabs/advisories/gigabyte-drivers-elevation-privilege-vulnerabil…x_refsource_MISC
    • securityfocus.com106252Vulnerability database, x_refsource_BID
    • gigabyte.comtw/Support/Utility/Graphics-Cardx_refsource_CONFIRM
    • gigabyte.comSupport/Security/1801x_refsource_CONFIRM
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-19323government-resource

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedMITRE

      Show 15 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/39
      Referenceadded
      —
      http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106252
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Security/1801
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.gigabyte.com/tw/Support/Utility/Graphics-Card
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.secureauth.com/labs/advisories/gigabyte-drivers-elevation-privilege-vulnerabilities
      Referenceremoved
      http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/39
      —
      Referenceremoved
      http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106252
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Security/1801
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/tw/Support/Utility/Graphics-Card
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.secureauth.com/labs/advisories/gigabyte-drivers-elevation-privilege-vulnerabilities
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/39 Types: Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106252 Types: Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Security/1801 Types: Vendor Advisory
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/tw/Support/Utility/Graphics-Card Types: Product
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.secureauth.com/labs/advisories/gigabyte-drivers-elevation-privilege-vulnerabilities Types: Broken Link, Exploit, Third Party Advisory
      —

      Source identifier: cve@mitre.org

    2. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: active, automatable: no

      Show 5 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-19323
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-19323
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-19323 Types: US Government Resource
      —
      SSVC assessmentremoved
      {"id":"CVE-2018-19323","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2022-10-27T00:00:00+00:00"}
      —
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2018-19323","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-08-13T03:55:45.565518Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    3. Record modifiedCVE Program

      Show 15 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/39
      Referenceadded
      —
      http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106252
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Security/1801
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.gigabyte.com/tw/Support/Utility/Graphics-Card
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.secureauth.com/labs/advisories/gigabyte-drivers-elevation-privilege-vulnerabilities
      Referenceremoved
      http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/39
      —
      Referenceremoved
      http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106252
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Security/1801
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/tw/Support/Utility/Graphics-Card
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.secureauth.com/labs/advisories/gigabyte-drivers-elevation-privilege-vulnerabilities
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/39 Types: Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106252 Types: Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Security/1801 Types: Vendor Advisory
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.gigabyte.com/tw/Support/Utility/Graphics-Card Types: Product
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.secureauth.com/labs/advisories/gigabyte-drivers-elevation-privilege-vulnerabilities Types: Broken Link, Exploit, Third Party Advisory
      —

      Source identifier: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

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