CVE-2026-75810 in Armoury Crate
Summary
by MITRE • 09/08/2026
Exposed Dangerous Method or Function in ASUS Armoury Crate allow a local user to cause a brief system stall by bypassing driver authentication and sending requests to trigger system management interrupts (SMIs). Repeatedly triggering SMI may lead to a denial-of-service (DoS) condition.Refer to the ' Security Update for Armoury Crate App ' section on the ASUS Security Advisory for more information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/08/2026
The vulnerability identified in ASUS Armoury Crate represents a critical flaw within the system management software that facilitates unauthorized interaction with low-level hardware components. This issue stems from an exposed dangerous method or function that fails to enforce proper authentication protocols before allowing user-space applications to invoke kernel-mode operations. Specifically, the flaw allows any local user on the compromised system to bypass driver authentication mechanisms and directly send requests designed to trigger System Management Interrupts (SMIs). In modern computing architectures, SMIs are high-priority interrupts handled by a special operating mode called System Management Mode (SMM), which operates independently of the main operating system and has unrestricted access to all hardware resources. By exploiting this misconfiguration, an attacker can force the CPU into SMI context without proper authorization checks, effectively bypassing standard security boundaries that separate user applications from critical system firmware operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is primarily centered around resource exhaustion and service disruption rather than direct code execution or privilege escalation in its immediate form. When a local user repeatedly triggers SMIs through the exposed function, it consumes significant CPU cycles as the processor handles these high-priority interrupts. This excessive consumption leads to a brief but noticeable system stall where normal operations are suspended while the SMI handler executes. If this process is repeated continuously or at a high frequency, it can escalate into a sustained denial-of-service condition. During such an event, the entire system becomes unresponsive as the CPU spends nearly all its time handling SMIs rather than executing legitimate user processes or operating system tasks. This effectively renders the machine unusable for any productive work until the service is restarted or the hardware is power-cycled to clear the stuck state in SMM.
From a technical classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Improper Access Control and CWE-755: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The root cause lies in the failure to validate privileges before executing sensitive system calls that interact directly with hardware management interfaces. In terms of offensive security tactics, this behavior maps closely to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service, specifically under sub-techniques involving resource exhaustion via loop or infinite command execution. Attackers can leverage this flaw as a disruptive tool in scenarios where they have local access but lack higher privileges, using the resulting system instability to mask other activities or simply cause operational disruption within an organization's IT infrastructure.
Mitigation for this vulnerability requires immediate attention from both users and ASUS engineering teams. The primary remediation is to apply the security update provided by ASUS as detailed in their official Security Advisory for Armoury Crate App. This patch likely involves hardening the driver interface to enforce strict authentication checks before allowing any SMI-triggering requests, thereby ensuring that only authorized system services or administrators can invoke these low-level functions. Until patches are applied, users should restrict physical and logical access to systems running vulnerable versions of Armoury Crate. Additionally, implementing application whitelisting policies can help prevent unauthorized local applications from interacting with the compromised driver components. Regular monitoring for unusual spikes in SMI-related interrupts using system diagnostic tools may also aid in detecting active exploitation attempts before they result in a full denial-of-service state.