# CVE-2026-38765: Unistal Systems Protegent 360 privilege escalation in pgsecdl.sys

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-38765-unistal-systems-protegent-360-privilege-escalation-in-pgsecdl-sys  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-07-22. Updated: 2026-07-22  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-38765 · Severity: info · CVSS 7.8 · Published 2026-07-22

Protegent 360 is an antivirus and security suite designed to protect Windows systems from malware and unauthorized file changes. A vulnerability in its core engine allows any user on the computer, even those with restricted guest access, to bypass security protections and gain full administrative control. This could allow an attacker to disable the antivirus, delete critical system files, or steal sensitive data.

Technologies: [Unistal Systems Protegent 360](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/protegent-360). Vendors: [Unistal Systems](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/unistal-systems).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-38765 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-38765 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-38765?** Informational severity, with a CVSS score of 7.8, published 22 July 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Unistal Systems Protegent 360 2.0.0.4.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-38765?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-38765 attacked?** It is attacked with local access, in an operating system.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-38765?** Check whether you run Unistal Systems Protegent 360 at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

The Protegent File Filter driver (pgsecdl.sys version 9.0.0.1) in Protegent 360 v2.0.0.4 fails to implement proper security descriptors on its device objects. The driver exposes IOCTL interfaces with FILE_ANY_ACCESS permissions and lacks access checks (such as SeAccessCheck) in its IRP_MJ_CREATE handler. A local, unprivileged attacker can send specially crafted IOCTL requests to the driver to disable process protection, bypass security filtering, or trigger kernel-mode writes to protected system directories via ZwWriteFile. This effectively allows for full local privilege escalation (LPE) to SYSTEM. At the time of disclosure, no patch was confirmed, and the vendor's driver architecture was noted for significant security deficiencies.

## Affected products

- Unistal Systems Pvt. Ltd. Protegent 360 2.0.0.4

## Timeline

- 2026-05-21: disclosed: Initial research published by DreadSec
- 2026-07-22: advisory: CVE-2026-38765 published to the NVD

## References

- [https://dreadsec.co/p/protogent-kernel-anti-virus-multiple-vulnerabilities.html](https://dreadsec.co/p/protogent-kernel-anti-virus-multiple-vulnerabilities.html)
- [https://github.com/D7EAD](https://github.com/D7EAD)

## Related threats

- [Unistal Systems Protegent 360 Privilege Escalation in Kernel Driver](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-38766-unistal-systems-protegent-360-privilege-escalation-in-kernel)
- [Unistal Systems Protegent 360 denial of service in wscsrv.sys](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-38763-unistal-systems-protegent-360-denial-of-service-in-wscsrv-sys)