IRONSMITHINTEL
CRITICALCVSS9.8
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2018-19323|Auth: none — unauthenticated|Reboot: required|Manual only

GIGABYTE Multiple Products Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

The GPCIDrv and GDrv low-level drivers in GIGABYTE App Center, AORUS Graphics Engine, XTREME Gaming Engine, and OC GURU expose functionality to read and write arbitrary physical memory. This could be leveraged by a local attacker to elevate privileges.

Published Dec 21, 2018 · Updated May 16, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A remote attacker, without authentication, can achieve full data confidentiality loss, arbitrary modification of data, complete denial of service or system unavailability. CISA has confirmed use of this vulnerability in known ransomware campaigns — treat as high priority for remediation. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2022-11-14 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This vulnerability affects GIGABYTE Multiple Products. 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). Exploitation requires remote network access, low attack complexity, no authentication required, and no user interaction required.

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Phishing link

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Malicious file

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Server compromised

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

IT Security
Running aorus graphics engine: v < 1.57; gigabyte app center: v ≤ 1.05.21; oc guru ii: 2.08; xtreme gaming engine: v < 1.26
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

Used in known ransomware campaigns. Threat-research write-up: http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/39

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

Apply the Vendor Patch

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

References

    1
    Vendor advisory: https://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Security/1801
    1
    NVD entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-19323
    1
    CISA KEV: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-19323
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