CVE-2021-28685
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAsIO2_64.sys and AsIO2_32.sys in ASUS GPUTweak II before 2.3.0.3 allow low-privileged users to interact directly with physical memory (by calling one of several driver routines that map physical memory into the virtual address space of the calling process) and to interact with MSR registers. This could enable low-privileged users to achieve NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM privileges via a DeviceIoControl.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceASUS GPUTweak II ships vulnerable kernel-mode drivers (AsIO2_32.sys and AsIO2_64.sys) that expose dangerous functionality to low-privileged users. These drivers allow mapping physical memory into user-mode processes and direct access to Model-Specific Registers (MSRs) via DeviceIoControl calls. This provides a direct path for unprivileged users to escalate to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM by manipulating kernel memory or MSR state.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 2.3.0.3CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if ASUS GPUTweak II is installedLook for the software in Windows Add/Remove Programs or check for the installation directory under Program Files (usually C:\Program Files\ASUS\GPUTweak II or C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\GPUTweak II)Affected if The software is found on the system
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Identify the installed versionRight-click the main executable (GPUTweakII.exe) in the installation folder, select Properties, and view the Details tab for version information, or check the registry uninstall key for version detailsAffected if The version number is lower than 2.3.0.3
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Locate the vulnerable driver filesSearch for AsIO2_32.sys and AsIO2_64.sys files in the ASUS GPUTweak II installation directory, or check the C:\Windows\System32\drivers folder for these filesAffected if These driver files exist on the system
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Verify driver status (optional)Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run 'sc query AsIO2' to check if the driver service exists, or use Autoruns or Process Explorer to see if the driver is loadedAffected if The AsIO2 driver is present and loaded into kernel memory
The environment is affected if ASUS GPUTweak II is installed with a version lower than 2.3.0.3 and the AsIO2_32.sys or AsIO2_64.sys driver files are present on the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data2.3.0.3
Upgrade ASUS GPUTweak II to version 2.3.0.3 or later to obtain the patched driver. If the software is unused, uninstall it to remove the vulnerable driver entirely.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28685 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-28685 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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