# CVE-2026-38766: Unistal Systems Protegent 360 Privilege Escalation in Kernel Driver

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-38766-unistal-systems-protegent-360-privilege-escalation-in-kernel  
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-2026-38766 · Severity: info · CVSS 7.8 · Published 2026-07-22

Protegent 360 is an antivirus and data security suite designed to protect Windows systems from malware and unauthorized file access. A vulnerability in its kernel drivers allows any local user, even those with restricted guest access, to bypass security protections and gain full administrative control over the computer. This could allow an attacker to disable the antivirus, delete critical system files, or install persistent malware that is difficult to remove.

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-2026-38766 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-38766 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-38766?** 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-2026-38766?** 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-2026-38766 attacked?** It is attacked with local access, in a network appliance.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-38766?** 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

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the kernel-mode drivers (wscsrv.sys and pgsecdl.sys) of Protegent 360 v2.0.0.4. The drivers create device objects with no security descriptors and expose IOCTL interfaces with FILE_ANY_ACCESS, allowing unprivileged local users to communicate with them. Specifically, the sub_186f4 function (and related IOCTL handlers) lacks access control checks, enabling an attacker to perform kernel-mode writes to protected directories like C:\Windows\system32 via ZwWriteFile, disable process protection, or modify security rules. This effectively allows a low-privileged user to achieve SYSTEM-level execution or bypass all filesystem security filters.

## 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-2026-38766 published by NVD/MITRE

## 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 pgsecdl.sys](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-38765-unistal-systems-protegent-360-privilege-escalation-in-pgsecdl-sys)
- [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)