The bcmwl5.sys file with the description Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter is a wireless driver file developed by Broadcom Corporation to run the Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter. It is a wireless device for multiple operations. Bcmwl5.sys is prone to a buffer-overflow, stack-based vulnerability as it fails to bounds-check properly user-supplied information prior to copying it into a sufficiently sized buffer to memory. This issue usually arises when an overly long SSID field is embedded in the Broadcom 802.11 probe response. When this happens, attackers are able to exploit the issue by executing remote codes in kernel mode. Failed attempts likely crash bcmwl5.sys, resulting to service denial situations. Bcmwl5.sys is primarily used on Windows-based computers, thus administrators needs to check the BSD and Linux that are using the 'ndiswrapper' tool in order to determine if this driver is being used. Warning is give to users that an attacker may exploit this vulnerability from within range of the 802.11 wireless connection broadcast.

Most non-system processes that are running can be stopped because they are not involved in running your operating system. bcmwl5.sys. is used by Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter, If you shut down bcmwl5.sys, it will likely start again at a later time either after you restart your computer or after an application start. To stop bcmwl5.sys, permanently you need to uninstall the application that runs this process which in this case is Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter, from your system.

After uninstalling applications it is a good idea to scan you Windows registry for any left over traces of applications. Registry Reviver by ReviverSoft is a great tool for doing this.

The ReviverSoft experts have not yet reviewed bcmwl5.sys

A process usually a part of an installed application such as Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter, or your operating system that is responsible for running in functions of that application. Some application require that they have processes running all the time so they can do things such as check for updates or notify you when you get an instant message. Some poorly written applications have many processes that run that may not be required and take up valuable processing power within your computer.

We have not received any complaint about this process having higher than normal impact on PC performance. If you have had bad experiences with it please let us know in a comment below and we will investigate it further.

The first thing you should do if bcmwl5.sys. is causing errors on your computer is to run a Windows registry scan with Registry Reviver If you are still seeing errors after this you should uninstall the program that bcmwl5.sys, belongs to, in this case Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter