CVE-2026-80115: Exposed IOCTL with Insufficient Access Control in PassMark Software PerformanceTest

PassMark Software PerformanceTest before 11.1 build 1012, BurnInTest before 11.1 build 1000, and OSForensics before 11.1 build 1016 contain a privilege escalation and denial-of-service vulnerability in the DirectIo64.sys driver. The vulnerability arises from exposed IOCTL interfaces that lack sufficient access control and blocklist enforcement, allowing local attackers to read arbitrary Model-Specific Registers (MSRs) or write zero to any MSR. Exploiting the write IOCTL can zero out the system call handler MSR, causing an immediate and unrecoverable kernel crash on the next system call. Reading security-sensitive MSRs can reveal kernel data structure locations, potentially aiding further attacks.

Local attackers with limited privileges can exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges by reading sensitive MSRs or cause a denial-of-service by crashing the kernel through zeroing the system call handler MSR. This can lead to system instability and potential compromise of kernel-level security.

Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict local access to affected systems and monitor for suspicious activity related to DirectIo64.sys IOCTL calls.