8 ms·

Not the operating system: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_Verifier https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_Verifier

ZeroWidthJoiner 1y ago
Driver Verifier is a tool that developers can choose to use for testing and debugging purposes. It's not used on production machines and it does nothing to prevent a badly written driver from crashing the kernel.
- Animats 1y ago
  Kernel drivers have to be verified by the driver verifier to pass Windows Hardware Qualification Labs certification and get signed with the Windows signing key that lets them load without warnings. There are fewer outside kernel drivers today, though, because plugging random peripheral cards into PC buses is no longer a big thing.
  - ZeroWidthJoiner 1y ago
    This is true for certification, which is mandatory for Server OS, distributing through Windows Update, or certain classes of drivers such as anti-malware or biometric authentication, but you can still submit drivers to Microsoft for "attestation signing" that will load without warnings on desktop OS without having to run them through the testing suite. In any case, running the certification tests does not provide runtime protection for drivers running in kernel mode, as demonstrated by CrowdStrike. Only Windows 10 started introducing hardware virtualization-based isolation of kernel components (to provide isolation of security subsystems, not runtime checks to prevent crashes): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-vbs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/de...
  - ryao 1y ago
    Yet drivers that have passed Windows Hardware Qualification Labs certification have had blue screens. Also, Microsoft hands out Windows kernel driver signing keys to anyone who pays them. You don't need to have a driver go through the Windows Hardware Qualification Labs to be able to sign it with a key signed by Microsoft.
vbezhenar 1y ago
My PC used to regularly crash Windows 10 because of buggy Nvidia driver. Eventually they fixed the bug, but until then, I had a crash every few days.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
ryao 1y ago
From your own link: "Driver Verifier is not normally used on machines used in productive work. It can cause ... blue screen fatal system errors."

ZeroWidthJoiner 1y ago

Driver Verifier is a tool that developers can choose to use for testing and debugging purposes. It's not used on production machines and it does nothing to prevent a badly written driver from crashing the kernel.

Animats 1y ago
Kernel drivers have to be verified by the driver verifier to pass Windows Hardware Qualification Labs certification and get signed with the Windows signing key that lets them load without warnings. There are fewer outside kernel drivers today, though, because plugging random peripheral cards into PC buses is no longer a big thing.
- ZeroWidthJoiner 1y ago
  This is true for certification, which is mandatory for Server OS, distributing through Windows Update, or certain classes of drivers such as anti-malware or biometric authentication, but you can still submit drivers to Microsoft for "attestation signing" that will load without warnings on desktop OS without having to run them through the testing suite. In any case, running the certification tests does not provide runtime protection for drivers running in kernel mode, as demonstrated by CrowdStrike. Only Windows 10 started introducing hardware virtualization-based isolation of kernel components (to provide isolation of security subsystems, not runtime checks to prevent crashes): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-vbs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/de...
- ryao 1y ago
  Yet drivers that have passed Windows Hardware Qualification Labs certification have had blue screens. Also, Microsoft hands out Windows kernel driver signing keys to anyone who pays them. You don't need to have a driver go through the Windows Hardware Qualification Labs to be able to sign it with a key signed by Microsoft.

vbezhenar 1y ago

My PC used to regularly crash Windows 10 because of buggy Nvidia driver. Eventually they fixed the bug, but until then, I had a crash every few days.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

ryao 1y ago

From your own link: "Driver Verifier is not normally used on machines used in productive work. It can cause ... blue screen fatal system errors."