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CWE-782Weakness · CWE-782

CVE-2026-57851

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click 7 weeks old

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 · unedited
MSI Feature Manager contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the KernCoreLib64.sys kernel driver that allows any locally logged-on user to perform arbitrary physical memory read/write and unrestricted I/O port operations by accessing exposed IOCTL handlers without administrator privileges. Attackers can exploit the accessible device object through IOCTL handlers to manipulate kernel objects, tamper with kernel-mode callbacks, bypass Protected Process Light protections, and disable security software.

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 · moderate confidence

MSI Feature Manager's KernCoreLib64.sys kernel driver exposes IOCTL handlers without proper access control, allowing any locally logged-on user to perform arbitrary physical memory read/write and unrestricted I/O port operations. This enables attackers to manipulate kernel objects, tamper with kernel-mode callbacks, bypass Protected Process Light (PPL) protections, and disable security software.

MitigationRestrict access to the KernCoreLib64.sys driver's IOCTL handlers by implementing proper authorization checks, or disable and remove the driver if unnecessary. Apply the vendor's security update once available.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate the KernCoreLib64.sys driver file
    Search for the file KernCoreLib64.sys in common driver locations: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\, C:\Program Files\MSI\, or use 'Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Recurse -Filter KernCoreLib64.sys -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue'
    Affected if The file exists on the system, indicating the driver is present
  2. Verify if the driver is currently loaded
    Run 'sc query KernCoreLib64' or 'Get-Process' with driver-related modules, or check 'fltmc' output for loaded kernel drivers
    Affected if The driver shows as RUNNING or LOADED in the service status
  3. Check the driver file version
    Right-click the driver file, select Properties, then Details to view File Version; or use 'Get-ItemProperty -Path "C:\path\to\KernCoreLib64.sys" | Select-Object VersionInfo'
    Affected if A version exists and matches or predates any vendor-provided fixed version (compare against MSI's official release notes for the patch)
  4. Confirm MSI Feature Manager is installed
    Check for MSI Feature Manager via 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*MSI*Feature*Manager*"}' or look in Programs and Features
    Affected if MSI Feature Manager software is installed on the system
  5. Identify processes using the driver
    Use 'tasklist /m KernCoreLib64.sys' or Process Explorer to view which processes have loaded this driver module
    Affected if Any process has loaded KernCoreLib64.sys, indicating the attack surface is active

If the KernCoreLib64.sys driver file exists and is loaded on a system with MSI Feature Manager installed, the environment is affected by this vulnerability because the exposed IOCTL handlers can be accessed by any local user.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict access to the KernCoreLib64.sys driver's IOCTL handlers by implementing proper authorization checks, or disable and remove the driver if unnecessary. Apply the vendor's security update once available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-57851 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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