CVE-2026-112116 in System Control Interface
Summary
by MITRE • 11/04/2026
An exposed IOCTL with insufficient access control in ASUS System Control Interface allows a local, low-privileged user to read and write arbitrary physical memory through crafted device control requests, ultimately resulting in a complete compromise of the affected system. Refer to the ' Security Update for ASUS System Control Interface ' section on the ASUS Security Advisory for more information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/04/2026
The vulnerability identified within the ASUS System Control Interface represents a critical failure in access control mechanisms governing input/output control operations, commonly referred to as IOCTLs. This flaw allows any local user with low privileges to interact directly with hardware-level components that should be restricted to kernel-mode or high-privilege processes. The core technical issue stems from an exposed IOCTL endpoint that lacks proper validation of the caller's security context. In a properly secured operating system, device drivers must verify that the requesting process possesses sufficient administrative rights before allowing operations that can manipulate physical memory addresses. By bypassing these checks, attackers gain the ability to send crafted control requests that instruct the driver to read from or write to arbitrary locations in physical RAM.
This capability effectively neutralizes several fundamental security boundaries enforced by modern operating systems such as Windows and Linux. Physical memory access allows an attacker to inspect kernel data structures, including process tokens, system call tables, and credential stores, without triggering standard detection mechanisms that monitor user-mode application behavior. Furthermore, the ability to write arbitrary values to physical memory enables direct modification of critical system state variables. This can be leveraged to escalate privileges by altering token attributes or injecting malicious code into protected processes through techniques like Direct Kernel Object Manipulation. The lack of access control transforms a standard peripheral management interface into a powerful exploitation vector that bypasses user-mode isolation entirely.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, leading to complete compromise of the affected system. An attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution with kernel-level privileges, effectively gaining full control over the hardware and software resources. This level of access facilitates data exfiltration of sensitive information such as encryption keys, passwords, and proprietary intellectual property stored in memory. It also allows for persistent backdoors that are difficult to detect because they reside within trusted system components or driver code rather than user applications. The ability to read physical memory can also be used to bypass security software by modifying the state of antivirus drivers or endpoint detection agents, rendering defensive measures ineffective during an active attack sequence.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Improper Access Control and CWE-119 Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer when considering the memory manipulation aspect. In terms of adversary tactics, it maps to ATT&CK technique T1055 Process Injection for code execution via kernel modules or direct system calls, as well as T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation through driver exploitation. The attack vector is classified under Local Access with Low Privileges, indicating that no network exposure is required and physical access or initial low-level foothold on the machine is sufficient to exploit this flaw.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. Users should immediately apply the security update provided by ASUS for the System Control Interface driver, which likely includes patches to enforce stricter permission checks on IOCTL handlers. Administrators should verify that the patch has been successfully deployed across all endpoints in their environment using configuration management tools. Beyond software updates, organizations should implement strict device control policies to prevent unauthorized installation of unsigned or unverified drivers that might expose similar vulnerabilities. Additionally, enabling kernel memory integrity features such as Windows Kernel DMA Protection or Linux IOMMU can help mitigate the impact by restricting direct hardware access to physical memory from non-trusted devices and processes. Regular auditing of driver signatures and enforcing least-privilege principles for system services are also essential steps in reducing the attack surface associated with low-level system interfaces.