Bypass matrix
Same Windows version, same HVCI checkbox, different silicon, different answers. Pick a configuration and every inventory on the site re-evaluates against it.
This page does not restate the per-defense inventories. It reads them, so a defense page joins the matrix simply by existing.
Where the defenses sit
A defense is filed here by the layer of the asset it protects, not by what enforces it. Protected Process Light is enforced by the kernel but guards a user-mode process, so it is a user-layer defense. That distinction is the whole reason a single primitive gives such different answers across the roster.
FIG_007: Reach of a kernel read/write primitive
<!-- VTL1: above the primitive -->
<rect class="ks-box" x="40" y="30" width="620" height="74" stroke-dasharray="4 3"/>
<text class="ks-label" x="56" y="52">VTL1: SECURE KERNEL</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="70">Credential Guard, HyperGuard, the HVCI verifier itself</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="86">A VTL0 primitive does not read or write here, however complete it is</text>
<!-- the boundary that actually matters -->
<line class="ks-line" x1="40" y1="122" x2="660" y2="122" stroke-dasharray="6 4"/>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="660" y="118" text-anchor="end">hypervisor boundary</text>
<!-- VTL0 kernel -->
<rect class="ks-box" x="40" y="140" width="620" height="98"/>
<text class="ks-label" x="56" y="162">VTL0 KERNEL: 19 DEFENSES</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="182">Protects kernel-resident assets: code integrity, page tables, pool metadata,</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="196">address layout, dispatch tables</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="220">DSE · HVCI · kCFG · kCET · KDP · HLAT · KASLR · PatchGuard · SMEP · SMAP</text>
<!-- VTL0 user -->
<rect class="ks-box" x="40" y="272" width="620" height="98"/>
<text class="ks-label" x="56" y="294">VTL0 USER: 11 DEFENSES</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="314">Protects user-mode assets, but the decision is stored and enforced in the</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="328">kernel, which is why a kernel write reaches all of it</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="56" y="352">PP/PPL · LSA Protection · ETW-Ti · EDR callbacks · WDAC · AppLocker · Smart App Control · UAC · AMSI</text>
<!-- reach bracket -->
<path class="ks-arrow" d="M700 140 L716 140 L716 370 L700 370"/>
<line class="ks-arrow" x1="716" y1="255" x2="732" y2="255"/>
<text class="ks-label" x="740" y="248">REACH OF</text>
<text class="ks-label" x="740" y="262">KERNEL R/W</text>
<!-- what stops it -->
<line class="ks-line" x1="700" y1="67" x2="732" y2="67" stroke-dasharray="3 3"/>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="740" y="64">out of</text>
<text class="ks-annotation" x="740" y="76">reach</text>
Read the picture as the answer to one question. A primitive that can write anywhere in kernel memory owns both lower bands outright, because every decision those defenses rely on is stored there. It owns none of the top band, because that memory belongs to a different privilege level enforced by hardware the kernel does not control.
That is why Protected Process Light falls to a single byte write while Credential Guard does not move at all, even though both protect a user-mode process. The asset moved; the enforcement did not.
The matrix
Basis tiers: tested means reproduced in lab. cited means a resolving public source.
inferred means reasoned from mechanism and not yet confirmed. An inferred verdict is a
research lead, not a finding.