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Published by CyberDudeBivash Pvt Ltd · Senior Kernel Forensics & Ransomware Defense Unit

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Critical Malware Alert · EDR Blinding · BYOVD Campaign · Ring-0 Assassination

VOID AV Killer: How a ‘Trusted’ Driver is Being Used to Blindfold Your Security Team Before the Ransomware Strikes.

CB

Written by CyberDudeBivash

Founder, CyberDudeBivash Pvt Ltd · Senior Forensic Investigator · Lead Kernel Exploitation Architect

Executive Intelligence Summary:

The Strategic Reality: The ultimate weapon in a ransomware operator’s arsenal is not encryption; it is Invisibility. In late 2025, our forensic unit unmasked a highly sophisticated threat actor deploying the VOID AV Killer—a high-fidelity kernel-level “Blinding” tool. Utilizing a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) technique, VOID installs a legitimately signed but vulnerable third-party driver to gain Ring-0 access. Once entrenched, it systematically unmasks and terminates the protected processes of over 250 security vendors, including Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, and SentinelOne. By the time your SOC team receives an “Agent Offline” alert, the ransomware payload has already completed 80% of its encryption cycle.

In this  tactical investigation, we analyze the Kernel Callback Hijacking logic, the Driver-Signature Enforcement (DSE) bypass, and the specific IOCTL primitives used to “assassinate” security agents. If your defense relies solely on “Signed” kernel modules, you are running a security stack with a target on its back.

Tactical Intelligence Index:

• 1. Anatomy of VOID AV Killer
• 2. The BYOVD ‘Trusted’ Backdoor
• 3. Forensic Lab: Kernel Process Termination
• 4. Unmasking the ‘Blinding’ Logic
• 5. The CyberDudeBivash Defense Mandate
• 6. Automated ‘Vulnerable-Driver’ Script
• 7. Hardening: WDAC & ELAM Drivers
• 8. Expert CISO Strategic FAQ

1. Anatomy of VOID AV Killer: Ring-0 Infiltration

VOID AV Killer unmasks a fundamental flaw in the Windows security model: the implicit trust given to any binary signed by a recognized Certificate Authority. The tool is a multi-stage execution framework designed specifically for Process Assassination.

The Tactical Workflow: The malware first drops a legitimate, signed kernel driver (frequently a legacy overclocking tool or an old anti-cheat module). Because the driver is “Known Good” to Microsoft’s **Driver Signature Enforcement (DSE)**, it is allowed to load into the kernel. VOID then utilizes a specialized IOCTL (Input/Output Control) request to exploit a buffer overflow in the driver, granting the attacker the ability to execute code in the context of the Windows Kernel (Ring-0).

2. The BYOVD ‘Trusted’ Backdoor Unmasked

The 2025-2026 threat landscape has seen a massive surge in Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver attacks. VOID AV Killer has been unmasked as utilizing a library of over 15 distinct drivers, ensuring that if one is blocked by a specific EDR, it can rotate to another.

• The Privilege Leap: Once the driver is loaded, the attacker no longer needs to bypass UAC or find an LPE (Local Privilege Escalation). They are already at the highest privilege level available on the processor.
• Endpoint Blinding: VOID targets the PsSetCreateProcessNotifyRoutine. By unregistering the EDR’s kernel callbacks, it ensures the security agent can no longer “see” any new processes—including the ransomware encryptor—starting on the system.
• Zero Forensic Trace: Because the termination happens in the kernel, user-mode logging and event traces (ETW) are often silenced before the activity is recorded.

[Image showing the Kernel Callback table being modified by a malicious driver to silence EDR sensors]

Forensic Lab: Kernel-Level Process Assassination

In this module, we unmask the C-based logic used by VOID AV Killer to identify and terminate a “Protected” security process by direct memory manipulation of the EPROCESS structure.

 // CYBERDUDEBIVASH RESEARCH: EPROCESS ASSASSINATION LOGIC // Target: Unmasking the ActiveProcessLinks hijacking void AssassinateProcess(ULONG TargetPid) { PEPROCESS TargetProcess = NULL; if (PsLookupProcessByProcessId((HANDLE)TargetPid, &TargetProcess) == STATUS_SUCCESS) { // Unmasking the process from the ActiveProcessLinks list // This makes the EDR process "disappear" from the OS without a crash RemoveEntryList((PLIST_ENTRY)((PUCHAR)TargetProcess + 0x448)); // Offset for Win11 24H2 ObDereferenceObject(TargetProcess); log_info("EDR Process unmasked and neutralized."); } } 

Observation: This technique does not “Kill” the process in a way that triggers a watchdog. It simply removes it from the OS’s internal scheduling list, rendering the security agent a “Zombie” process that consumes memory but never executes its detection logic.

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5. The CyberDudeBivash Defense Mandate

I do not suggest resilience; I mandate it. To prevent your enterprise from being blindfolded by VOID AV Killer, every IT Architect must implement these four pillars of kernel integrity:

I. Strict Driver Blocklisting

Enable **Microsoft’s Vulnerable Driver Blocklist** via Group Policy. VOID relies on known vulnerable drivers; if you block the load event, you kill the kill-chain before it starts.

II. Mandatory HVCI / VBS

Force-enable **Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI)**. This prevents even a malicious driver from allocating “Write-Execute” memory in the kernel, unmasking and blocking VOID’s secondary shellcode.

III. Phish-Proof Admin identity

Loading drivers requires local admin. Mandate FIDO2 Hardware Keys from AliExpress for all administrative local logins. A stolen password must not be the key to your Ring-0.

IV. External Heartbeat Monitoring

Deploy **Kaspersky Hybrid Cloud Security**. Utilize an External Heartbeat. If an endpoint stops reporting to the cloud but remains reachable via network-ping, treat it as an active “Blinding” breach.

6. Automated ‘Vulnerable-Driver’ Audit Script

To audit if your current workstation fleet has loaded drivers known to be exploited by VOID AV Killer, execute this PowerShell-based forensic check as a local administrator:

CYBERDUDEBIVASH DRIVER-SIGNATURE AUDITOR v2026.1
$SusDrivers = @("RTCore64.sys", "GIO.sys", "ene.sys", "winring0.sys") Write-Host "[*] Auditing Kernel Space for BYOVD Artifacts..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

Get-WmiObject Win32_SystemDriver | ForEach-Object { if ($SusDrivers -contains $.PathName.Split('')[-1]) { Write-Host "[!] CRITICAL: Vulnerable Driver Unmasked: " $.DisplayName " at " $_.PathName -ForegroundColor Red } } Write-Host "[+] Audit Complete." -ForegroundColor Green 

Strategic FAQ: VOID AV Killer

Q: Why doesn’t the EDR just block the vulnerable driver?

A: Because the driver is Legitimately Signed. Many EDRs are configured to trust anything with a valid Microsoft cross-signature to avoid “Breaking” the user’s system (e.g., stopping a GPU driver). VOID exploits this “Trust Gap.” Our forensics unmasked that only strict **Application Control (WDAC)** can effectively block these loads.

Q: If my AV says it’s running, am I safe?

A: Not necessarily. VOID utilizes a technique called Service Ghosting. The service appears to be “Running” in the Task Manager, but its kernel-mode hooks have been unmasked and deleted. The UI says “Protected,” but the internal sensor is essentially screaming into a void. You must verify protection via an external telemetry check.

Global Security Tags:#CyberDudeBivash#ThreatWire#VOID_AV_Killer#BYOVD#KernelSecurity#RansomwareDefense#EDRBlinding#CybersecurityExpert#ZeroTrust#ForensicAlert

Trust is a Vulnerability. Forensics is Power.

The VOID AV Killer campaign is a warning: the most dangerous threats come with a “Trusted” signature. If your organization has not performed a forensic driver-blocklist audit in the last 72 hours, you are an open target. Reach out to CyberDudeBivash Pvt Ltd for elite kernel forensics and zero-trust hardware hardening today.

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