View source for Device driver

{{Short description|Software interface to attached devices}}
{{About|device drivers for hardware|other software drivers|Driver (software)}}
{{OS}}

In the context of an [[operating system]], a '''device driver''' is a [[computer program]] that operates or controls a particular type of [[Peripheral|device]] that is attached to a [[computer]].<ref name="dev1">{{cite web|title=What is all device driver?|url=http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/definition/device-driver|website=WhatIs.com|publisher=TechTarget|access-date=19 March 2018|archive-date=13 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213094525/https://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/definition/device-driver|url-status=live}}</ref> A driver provides a software [[Interface (computing)|interface]] to [[Computer hardware|hardware]] devices, enabling operating systems and other computer programs to access hardware functions without needing to know precise details about the hardware.

A driver communicates with the device through the [[computer bus]] or communications subsystem to which the hardware connects. When a [[System call|calling]] program invokes a [[subroutine|routine]] in the driver, the driver issues commands to the device (drives it). Once the device sends data back to the driver, the driver may invoke routines in the original calling program.

Drivers are hardware-dependent and operating-system-specific. They usually provide the [[Interrupt handler|interrupt handling]] required for any necessary asynchronous time-dependent hardware interface.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sCCfRAj3aCgC&q=device+driver+hardware+dependent|title=Information Storage and Management: Storing, Managing, and Protecting Digital Information|year=2010|author=EMC Education Services|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470618332|access-date=2020-11-10|archive-date=2021-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213094529/https://books.google.com/books?id=sCCfRAj3aCgC&q=device+driver+hardware+dependent|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Purpose==
The main purpose of device drivers is to provide [[hardware abstraction]] by acting as a translator between a hardware device and the applications or [[operating system]]s that use it.<ref name="dev1"/> Programmers can write higher-level application code independently of whatever specific hardware the end-user is using.

For example, a high-level application for interacting with a [[serial port]] may simply have two functions for ''send data'' and ''receive data''. At a lower level, a device driver implementing these functions would communicate with the particular serial port controller installed on a user's computer. The commands needed to control a [[16550 UART]] are much different from the commands needed to control an [[USB-to-serial adapter]], but each hardware-specific device driver abstracts these details into the same (or similar) software interface.<!--[[User:Kvng/RTH]]-->

==Development==
Writing a device driver requires an in-depth understanding of how the hardware and the software works for a given [[Computing platform|platform]] function. Because drivers require low-level access to hardware functions in order to operate, drivers typically operate in a highly [[privilege (computing)|privilege]]d environment and can cause system operational issues if something goes wrong. In contrast, most user-level software on modern operating systems can be stopped without greatly affecting the rest of the system. Even drivers executing in [[user mode]] can crash a system if the device is [[Erroneous program|erroneously programmed]]. These factors make it more difficult and dangerous to diagnose problems.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9aFQAAAAMAAJ&q=writing+a+device+driver|title=Writing device drivers: tutorial and reference|year=1995|author=Burke, Timothy|publisher=Digital Press|isbn=9781555581411|access-date=2016-08-05|archive-date=2021-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126050637/https://books.google.com/books?id=9aFQAAAAMAAJ&q=writing+a+device+driver|url-status=live}}</ref>

The task of writing drivers thus usually falls to [[software engineer]]s or [[computer engineer]]s who work for hardware-development companies. This is because they have better information than most outsiders about the design of their hardware. Moreover, it was traditionally considered in the hardware [[manufacturer]]'s interest to guarantee that their clients can use their hardware in an optimal way. Typically, the [[Logical Device Driver]] (LDD) is written by the operating system vendor, while the [[Physical Device Driver]] (PDD) is implemented by the device vendor. However, in recent years, non-vendors have written numerous device drivers for proprietary devices, mainly for use with [[free and open source]] operating systems. In such cases, it is important that the hardware manufacturer provide information on how the device communicates. Although this information can instead be learned by [[reverse engineering]], this is much more difficult with hardware than it is with software.

[[Windows]] uses a combination of driver and minidriver, where the full class/port driver is provided with the operating system, and miniclass/miniport drivers are developed by vendors and implement hardware- or function-specific subset of the full driver stack.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/gettingstarted/choosing-a-driver-model |title=Choosing a driver model |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=2021-03-30}}</ref> Miniport model is used by [[Network Driver Interface Specification#Specification|NDIS]],  [[Windows Driver Model#Object-oriented driver stack|WDM]], [[WDDM]], [[WaveRT]], [[StorPort]], [[Windows Image Acquisition|WIA]], and [[Human Interface Device|HID]] drivers; each of them uses device-specific APIs and still requires the developer to handle tedious device management tasks.

[[Microsoft]] has attempted to reduce system instability due to poorly written device drivers by creating a new framework for driver development, called [[Windows Driver Frameworks]] (WDF). This includes [[User-Mode Driver Framework]] (UMDF) that encourages development of certain types of drivers—primarily those that implement a [[message-based protocol]] for communicating with their devices—as user-mode drivers. If such drivers malfunction, they do not cause system instability. The [[Kernel-Mode Driver Framework]] (KMDF) model continues to allow development of kernel-mode device drivers but attempts to provide standard implementations of functions that are known to cause problems, including cancellation of I/O operations, power management, and plug-and-play device support.

[[Apple Inc.|Apple]] has an open-source framework for developing drivers on [[macOS]], called I/O Kit.

In [[Linux kernel|Linux]] environments, programmers can build device drivers as parts of the [[Linux kernel|kernel]], separately as loadable [[loadable kernel module|module]]s, or as user-mode drivers (for certain types of devices where kernel interfaces exist, such as for USB devices). [[Makedev]] includes a list of the devices in Linux, including ttyS (terminal), lp ([[parallel port]]), hd (disk), loop, and sound (these include [[Sound card mixer|mixer]], [[Music sequencer|sequencer]], [[Digital signal processor|dsp]], and audio).<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl8_MAKEDEV.htm
 | title = MAKEDEV&nbsp;— Linux Command&nbsp;— Unix Command
 | publisher = Linux.about.com
 | date = 2009-09-11
 | access-date = 2009-09-17
 | archive-date = 2009-04-30
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090430115615/http://linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl8_MAKEDEV.htm
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>

[[Microsoft Windows]] [[.sys]] files and [[Linux]] .ko files can contain loadable device drivers. The advantage of loadable device drivers is that they can be loaded only when necessary and then unloaded, thus saving kernel memory.

==Privilege levels==
Depending on the operating system, device drivers may be permitted to run at various different [[Privilege_(computing)|privilege levels]]. The choice of which level of privilege the drivers are in is largely decided by the type of [[Kernel (operating system)|kernel]] an operating system uses. An operating system that uses a [[monolithic kernel]], such as the [[Linux kernel]], will typically run device drivers with the same privilege as all other kernel objects. By contrast, a system designed around [[microkernel]], such as [[Minix]], will place drivers as processes independent from the kernel but that use it for essential [[input-output]] functionalities and to pass messages between user programs and each other.<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Tanenbaum
|first1=Andrew
|last2=Woodhull
|first2=Albert
|title=Operating Systems, Design and Implementation
|date=2006
|publisher=Pearson Pretence Hall
|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ
|isbn=0-13-142938-8
|page=256
|edition=3rd.}}</ref>
On [[Windows NT]], a system with a [[hybrid kernel]], it is common for device drivers to run in either [[CPU modes|kernel-mode]] or [[user space|user-mode]].<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Yosifovich
|first1=Pavel
|last2=Ionescu |first2=Alex
|last3=Russinovich
|first3=Mark
|last4=Solomon
|first4=David
|title=Windows Internals, Part 1
|date=2017
|publisher=Microsoft Press
|location=Redmond, Washington
|isbn=978-0-7356-8418-8
|edition=Seventh}}</ref>

The most common mechanism for segregating memory into various privilege levels is via [[protection ring]]s. On many systems, such as those with [[x86]] and [[ARM_(processor)|ARM]] processors, switching between rings imposes a performance penalty, a factor that operating system developers and [[Embedded software|embedded software engineers]] consider when creating drivers for devices which are preferred to be run with low latency, such as [[Network interface card|network interface cards]]. The primary benefit of running a driver in user mode is improved stability since a poorly written user-mode device driver cannot crash the system by overwriting kernel memory.<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://blogs.msdn.com/iliast/archive/2006/10/10/Introduction-to-the-User_2D00_Mode-Driver-Framework.aspx
 | title = Introduction to the User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF)
 | date = 2006-10-10
 | access-date = 2008-03-04
 | publisher = [[Microsoft]]
 | archive-date = 2010-01-07
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100107015247/http://blogs.msdn.com/iliast/archive/2006/10/10/Introduction-to-the-User_2D00_Mode-Driver-Framework.aspx
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>

==Applications==
Because of the diversity of {{as of | 2009 | alt = modern}} hardware and operating systems, drivers operate in many different environments.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfU7RtI7OX8C&q=applications+device+driver|title=Understanding Computers 2009: Today and Tomorrow|year=2009|author=Deborah Morley|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=9780324830132|access-date=2020-11-10|archive-date=2021-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609160421/https://books.google.com/books?id=tfU7RtI7OX8C&q=applications+device+driver|url-status=live}}</ref> Drivers may [[interface (computer science)|interface]] with:

* [[Computer printer|Printers]]
* [[Video adapters]]
* [[Network cards]]
* [[Sound card]]s
* [[PC chipset]]s
* [[Power management|Power]] and [[battery management]]
* Local [[Computer bus|buses]] of various sorts—in particular, for [[bus mastering]] on modern systems
* Low-[[bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]] [[I/O]] buses of various sorts (for [[pointing device]]s such as [[Computer mouse|mice]], [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]]s, etc.)
* [[Computer storage]] devices such as [[hard disk]], [[CD-ROM]], and [[floppy disk]] buses ([[Advanced Technology Attachment|ATA]], [[SATA]], [[SCSI]], [[Serial Attached SCSI|SAS]])
* Implementing support for different [[file system]]s
* [[Image scanner]]s
* [[Digital camera]]s
* [[Digital terrestrial television|Digital terrestrial television tuners]]
* Radio frequency communication transceiver adapters for [[Personal area network|wireless personal area networks]] as used for short-distance and low-rate wireless communication in home automation, (such as example [[Bluetooth Low Energy|Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)]], [[Thread (network protocol)|Thread]], [[Zigbee]], and [[Z-Wave]]).
* [[IrDA]] adapters

Common levels of abstraction for device drivers include:
* For hardware:
** Interfacing directly
** Writing to or reading from a [[device control register]]
** Using some higher-level interface (e.g. [[Video BIOS]])
** Using another lower-level device driver (e.g. file system drivers using disk drivers)
** Simulating work with hardware, while doing something entirely different<ref name="Computer Peripherals and Interfaces">{{cite book|title=Computer Peripherals and Interfaces|date=January 2008|publisher=Technical Publications Pune|isbn=978-8184314748|pages=5–8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uK01xKT_mAMC&q=Simulating+work+with+hardware%2C+while+doing+something+entirely+different&pg=SA5-PA8|access-date=2016-05-03|ref=CPIbook}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* For software:
** Allowing the operating system direct access to hardware resources
** Implementing only [[primitive (computer science)|primitive]]s
** Implementing an interface for non-driver software (e.g. [[TWAIN]])
** Implementing a language, sometimes quite high-level (e.g. [[PostScript]])

So choosing and installing the correct device drivers for given hardware is often a key component of computer system configuration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drivers.com/update/drivers-news/what-are-device-drivers-and-why-do-we-need-them/|title=What are Device Drivers and why do we need them?|date=April 17, 2015|access-date=March 19, 2018|website=drivers.com|archive-date=November 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120050252/http://www.drivers.com/update/drivers-news/what-are-device-drivers-and-why-do-we-need-them/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Virtual device drivers==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2025}}

Virtual device drivers represent a particular variant of device drivers. They are used to emulate a hardware device, particularly in [[virtual machine|virtualization]] environments, for example when a guest operating system is run on a [[Xen]] host. Instead of enabling the guest operating system to dialog with hardware, virtual device drivers take the opposite role and emulates a piece of hardware, so that the guest operating system and its drivers running inside a [[virtual machine]] can have the illusion of accessing real hardware. Attempts by the guest operating system to access the hardware are routed to the virtual device driver in the host operating system as e.g.,&nbsp;[[function call]]s. The virtual device driver can also send simulated processor-level events like [[interrupt]]s into the virtual machine.

Virtual devices may also operate in a non-virtualized environment. For example, a virtual [[network adapter]] is used with a [[virtual private network]], while a virtual [[Hard disk drive|disk]] device is used with [[iSCSI]]. A good example for virtual device drivers can be [[Daemon Tools]].

There are several variants of virtual device drivers, such as [[VxD]]s, [[VLM (NetWare)|VLM]]s, and VDDs.

==Open source drivers==
* [[Free and open-source graphics device driver|Graphics device driver]]
* Printers: [[CUPS]]
* RAIDs: CCISS<ref>{{cite web
| url       = https://sourceforge.net/projects/cciss/
| title       = CCISS
| year       = 2010
| work       = [[SourceForge]]
| access-date       = 2010-08-11
| quote       = Drivers for the HP (previously Compaq) Smart Array controllers which provide hardware RAID capability.
| archive-date       = 2010-08-21
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100821112730/http://sourceforge.net/projects/cciss/
| url-status       = dead
}}</ref> (Compaq Command Interface for SCSI-3 Support<ref>{{cite book
 |url             = http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg246852.pd
 |title           = Abbreviations and acronyms
 |first           = Steve
 |last            = Russell
 |date            = 2003-10-21
 |work            = Server Consolidation with the IBM eserver xSeries 440 and VMware ESX Serve
 |publisher       = IBM International Technical Support Organization
 |page            = 207
 |isbn            = 0-7384-2684-9
 |access-date      = 2011-08-14
 |display-authors = etal
}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>)
* Scanners: [[Scanner Access Now Easy|SANE]]
* Video: [[Vidix]], [[Direct Rendering Infrastructure]]

[[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] descriptions of commonly used device drivers:
* fas: Fast/wide SCSI controller
* hme: Fast (10/100&nbsp;Mbit/s) Ethernet
* isp: Differential SCSI controllers and the SunSwift card
* glm: (Gigabaud Link Module<ref>{{cite web
 | title = US Patent 5969841 - Gigabaud link module with received power detect signal
 | url = http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5969841.html
 | publisher = PatentStorm LLC
 | access-date = 2009-09-08
 | quote = An improved Gigabaud Link Module (GLM) is provided for performing bi-directional data transfers between a host device and a serial transfer medium.
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110612215844/http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5969841.html
 | archive-date = 2011-06-12
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>) UltraSCSI controllers
* scsi: Small Computer Serial Interface (SCSI) devices
* sf: soc+ or social Fiber Channel Arbitrated Loop (FCAL)
* soc: SPARC Storage Array (SSA) controllers and the control device
* social: Serial optical controllers for FCAL (soc+)

==APIs==
* [[Windows Display Driver Model]] (WDDM) – the graphic display driver architecture for [[Windows Vista]] and later.
* Unified Audio Model (UAM)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms894071.aspx|title=Unified Audio Model (Windows CE 5.0)|website=Microsoft Developer Network |date=14 September 2012 |access-date=2016-09-19|archive-date=2017-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622222123/https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms894071.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Windows Driver Foundation]] (WDF)
* Declarative Componentized Hardware (DCH) - [[Universal Windows Platform]] driver<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dell US|title=What are DCH drivers and why do you need to know about them? {{!}} Dell US|url=https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln318535/what-are-dch-drivers-and-why-do-you-need-to-know-about-them?lang=en|access-date=2020-10-29|website=www.dell.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Windows Driver Model]] (WDM)
* [[Network Driver Interface Specification]] (NDIS) – a standard [[network card]] driver API
* [[Advanced Linux Sound Architecture]] (ALSA) – the standard Linux sound-driver interface
* [[Scanner Access Now Easy]] (SANE) – a public-domain interface to raster-image scanner-hardware
* [[Installable File System]] (IFS) – a [[filesystem API]] for IBM OS/2 and Microsoft Windows NT
* [[Open Data-Link Interface]] (ODI) – network card API similar to NDIS
* [[Uniform Driver Interface]] (UDI) – a cross-platform driver interface project
* Dynax Driver Framework (dxd) – C++ open source cross-platform driver framework for KMDF and IOKit<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dxd.dynax.at/|title=dxd - dynax driver framework: Main Page|website=dxd.dynax.at|access-date=2016-09-19|archive-date=2016-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529042017/https://dxd.dynax.at/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Identifiers==
A device on the [[PCI bus]] or USB is identified by two IDs which consist of two [[byte]]s each. The vendor ID identifies the vendor of the device. The device ID identifies a specific device from that manufacturer/vendor.

A PCI device has often an ID pair for the main chip of the device, and also a subsystem ID pair that identifies the vendor, which may be different from the chip manufacturer.

==Security==
Computers often have many diverse and customized device drivers running in their operating system kernel which often contain various [[Computer bug|bugs]] and [[Vulnerability (computing)|vulnerabilities]], making them a target for [[Exploit (computer security)|exploits]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Talebi |first1=Seyed Mohammadjavad Seyed |last2=Tavakoli |first2=Hamid |last3=Zhang |first3=Hang |last4=Zhang |first4=Zheng |last5=Sani |first5=Ardalan Amiri |last6=Qian |first6=Zhiyun |title=Charm: Facilitating Dynamic Analysis of Device Drivers of Mobile Systems |url=https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity18/presentation/talebi |access-date=5 November 2022 |pages=291–307 |language=en |date=2018 |isbn=9781939133045 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175041/https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity18/presentation/talebi |url-status=live }}</ref> {{anchor|BYOVD}} A ''Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver'' (BYOVD) attacker installs any signed, old third-party driver with known vulnerabilities that allow malicious code to be inserted into the kernel.<ref name="arstechnica/microsoft-blunder">{{cite news |last1=Goodin |first1=Dan |title=How a Microsoft blunder opened millions of PCs to potent malware attacks |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/how-a-microsoft-blunder-opened-millions-of-pcs-to-potent-malware-attacks/ |access-date=8 November 2022 |work=[[Ars Technica]] |date=14 October 2022 |language=en-us |archive-date=8 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108164935/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/how-a-microsoft-blunder-opened-millions-of-pcs-to-potent-malware-attacks/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Drivers that may be vulnerable include those for WiFi and Bluetooth,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ridley |first1=Jacob |title=You're going to want to update your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers today |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/its-a-really-good-idea-to-update-your-wi-fi-and-bluetooth-drivers-today/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=PC Gamer |date=9 February 2022 |language=en |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175040/https://www.pcgamer.com/its-a-really-good-idea-to-update-your-wi-fi-and-bluetooth-drivers-today/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Wireless 'BlueBorne' Attacks Target Billions of Bluetooth Devices |url=https://threatpost.com/wireless-blueborne-attacks-target-billions-of-bluetooth-devices/127921/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=threatpost.com |language=en |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175043/https://threatpost.com/wireless-blueborne-attacks-target-billions-of-bluetooth-devices/127921/ |url-status=live }}</ref> gaming/graphics drivers,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Spadafora |first1=Anthony |title=Installing gaming drivers might leave your PC vulnerable to cyberattacks |url=https://www.techradar.com/news/installing-gaming-drivers-might-leave-your-pc-vulnerable-to-cyberattacks |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=TechRadar |date=12 January 2022 |language=en |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175046/https://www.techradar.com/news/installing-gaming-drivers-might-leave-your-pc-vulnerable-to-cyberattacks |url-status=live }}</ref> and drivers for printers.<ref>{{cite news |title=HP patches vulnerable driver lurking in printers for 16 years |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/hp-patches-vulnerable-printer-driver-impacting-millions-of-devices/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=ZDNET |language=en |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175042/https://www.zdnet.com/article/hp-patches-vulnerable-printer-driver-impacting-millions-of-devices/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

There is a lack of effective kernel vulnerability detection tools, especially for closed-source operating systems such as Microsoft Windows<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pan |first1=Jianfeng |last2=Yan |first2=Guanglu |last3=Fan |first3=Xiaocao |title=Digtool: A {Virtualization-Based} Framework for Detecting Kernel Vulnerabilities |url=https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity17/technical-sessions/presentation/pan |access-date=5 November 2022 |pages=149–165 |language=en |date=2017|publisher=USENIX Association |isbn=9781931971409 }}</ref> where the source code of the device drivers is mostly [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] and not available to examine,<ref>{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Bertel |title=Closed Source vs. Open Source Hardware Drivers: Why It Matters |url=https://www.makeuseof.com/closed-source-vs-open-source-hardware-drivers/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=MUO |date=18 June 2022 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175040/https://www.makeuseof.com/closed-source-vs-open-source-hardware-drivers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and drivers often have many privileges.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Branscombe |first1=Mary |title=How Microsoft blocks vulnerable and malicious drivers in Defender, third-party security tools and in Windows 11 |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-microsoft-blocks-vulnerable-malicious-drivers-defender-third-party-security-tools-windows-11/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=TechRepublic |date=7 April 2022 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175043/https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-microsoft-blocks-vulnerable-malicious-drivers-defender-third-party-security-tools-windows-11/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Goodin |first1=Dan |title=No fix in sight for mile-wide loophole plaguing a key Windows defense for years |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/no-fix-in-sight-for-mile-wide-loophole-plaguing-a-key-windows-defense-for-years/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=Ars Technica |date=5 October 2022 |language=en-us |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175043/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/no-fix-in-sight-for-mile-wide-loophole-plaguing-a-key-windows-defense-for-years/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Davenport |first1=Corbin |title="Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver" Attacks Are Breaking Windows |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/820374/bring-your-own-vulnerable-driver-attacks-are-breaking-windows/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=How-To Geek |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175043/https://www.howtogeek.com/820374/bring-your-own-vulnerable-driver-attacks-are-breaking-windows/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Windows 10 Security Alert: Vulnerabilities Found in Over 40 Drivers |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/windows-10-security-alert-vulnerabilities-found-in-over-40-drivers/ |access-date=5 November 2022 |work=BleepingComputer |language=en-us |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105175043/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/windows-10-security-alert-vulnerabilities-found-in-over-40-drivers/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A group of security researchers considers the lack of isolation as one of the [[Computer security|main factors]] undermining [[Kernel (operating system)#Protection|kernel security]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Fine-grained kernel isolation |url=https://mars-research.github.io/projects/kernel-isolation/ |website=mars-research.github.io |access-date=15 September 2022 |language=en |archive-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915120154/https://mars-research.github.io/projects/kernel-isolation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and published an [[Sandbox (computer security)|isolation]] framework to protect operating system kernels, primarily the [[Monolithic kernel|monolithic]] [[Linux kernel]] whose drivers they say get ~80,000 [[Commit (version control)|commits]] per year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fetzer |first1=Mary |title=Automatic device driver isolation protects against bugs in operating systems |url=https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-automatic-device-driver-isolation-bugs.html |access-date=15 September 2022 |work=[[Pennsylvania State University]] via techxplore.com |language=en |archive-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915120154/https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-automatic-device-driver-isolation-bugs.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Huang |first1=Yongzhe |last2=Narayanan |first2=Vikram |last3=Detweiler |first3=David |last4=Huang |first4=Kaiming |last5=Tan |first5=Gang |last6=Jaeger |first6=Trent |last7=Burtsev |first7=Anton |title=KSplit: Automating Device Driver Isolation |url=https://mars-research.github.io/doc/ksplit-osdi22.pdf |access-date=15 September 2022 |date=2022 |archive-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915120155/https://mars-research.github.io/doc/ksplit-osdi22.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> {{Excerpt|Kernel (operating system)|Protection|paragraphs=1-2}}

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Driver (software)]]
* [[Class driver]]
* [[Device driver synthesis and verification]]
* [[Driver wrapper]]
* [[Free software]]
* [[Firmware]]
* [[Loadable kernel module]]
* [[Makedev]]
* [[Microcontroller]]
* [[Open-source hardware]]
* [[Printer driver]]
* [[Replicant (operating system)]]
* [[udev]] (userspace /dev)
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
<!-- Please discuss links before adding them here. Due to a tendency to attract spam, undiscussed additional links will be periodically removed. -->
* [https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware Windows Hardware Dev Center]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190819193521/https://www.linux-drivers.org/ Linux Hardware Compatibility Lists and Linux Drivers]
* [http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~kadav/study/study.pdf Understanding Modern Device Drivers(Linux)]
* [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ BinaryDriverHowto, Ubuntu.]
* [https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/master/drivers Linux Drivers Source]

{{Operating systems}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Device Driver}}
[[Category:Device drivers| ]]
[[Category:Linux drivers]]
[[Category:Computing terminology]]
[[Category:Windows NT kernel]]