VBootKit 2.

0 - Attacking
Windows 7 via Boot Sectors

HITB-Dubai 2009

2009-4-23

Nitin Kumar
Security Researcher
[email protected]
Vipin Kumar
Security Researcher
[email protected]
What we do ?

Analysing malware
Code Reviewing

Network PenTests

and also, a bit of this and a bit of that.

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Presentation outline

Introduction to Bootkits
Windows 7 boot process (x64)
Vbootkit 2.0 architecture and working
Vbootkit 2.0 Payloads aka shell-codes
Remote Command & Control protocol
Privilege escalation of programs
Demo
Remote Keylogger
Demo
Login without passwords
Demo
Vbootkit and DRM
Question time and Thanks
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Introduction to Bootkits

Bootkits are rootkits in which first point of control is

during the boot process such MBR , VBR etc
Bootkits are almost impossible to detect
Bootkits can be used to avoid all protections of an OS,
because OS consider that the system was in trusted
stated at the moment the OS boot loader took control.
Customized MBR/boot sectors are used for both to
keep themselves in control and also to spread
Age-old boot sector attacks are back in picture, ready
to grab control of your system.

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Windows 7(x64) Boot Process

MBR loads NT Boot Sector ( 8 KB in size, currently

only 5 KB is used).NT boot sector has the ability to read
FAT32 and NTFS. It finds and loads a file
BOOTMGR.EXE from the system32 or system32/boot
directory at 2000h:0000h or 0x20000 to be exact.

BOOTMGR.EXE has a 16 header prepended to itself.

This 16 bit header checks the checksum of embedded
executable and maps it at 0x400000.This executable
doesn't have any external dependencies and is self-
contained

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Windows 7(x64) Boot Process

Execution of BOOTMGR starts in 32 bits in BmMain

function. It no longer verifies itself. Vista (32 bit) used to
verify it's digital signature. However,(this change is
welcome).NO software in world can detect changes to
itself and declare that the results can be relied

After this, it checks for hibernation state,if it’s found, it

loads winresume.exe and gets done

It then mounts BCD database and enumerates boot

entries,settings etc

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Windows 7(x64) Boot Process

After user selects a boot entry,It is launched using

BmLaunchBootEntry with added switches. However,
CPU is changed to 64 bit mode just before jumping to
WINLOAD.EXE

Now WINLOAD.EXE is loaded,It loads

NTOSKRNL.EXE, HAL.DLL, dependencies, boot drivers
after loading SYSTEM registry hive

Creates a PsLoadedModuleList &

LOADER_PARAMETER_BLOCK structure which
contains memory map,options list etc
Control is then transferred to kernel using
OslArchTransferToKernel after stopping boot debugger
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Summary of Booting Process

BIOS MBR Volume Boot Sector

NT
Boot
Sector
WINLOAD.EXE BOOTMGR.EXE

Windows 7 kernel HAL.DLL Boot drivers

Legend CPU Mode

Blue > UNKNOWN
Green > 16 bit
Red > 32 bit
Black > 64 bit
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Windows 7 Kernel Startup

NTOSKRNL uses 2 phases to initialize system

First phase(phase 0) initializes the kernel itself
Calls HalInitialiseBios
Inits Display driver
starts Debugger
Calls KiInitializeKernel
Second phase (phase 1) initializes the system
Phase1InitializationDiscard
HalInitSystem
ObInitSystem
Sets boot time bias for ASLR
PsInitialSystemProcess
StartFirstUserProcess ( starts SMSS.EXE)
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But what is Minwin and minkernel ???

Minwin is Microsoft's internal project kinda stuff which

is how small and independent can the Windows
kernel(and related core components) can be made but
at the same time keep it useful and working. A severely
stripped down version (almost 20 MB) of Windows 7
was able to run a http server ( but no GUI). Windows 7
takes several GIGs to even start on my PC.
Minkernel is the step towards Minwin so as to make
the kernel more streamlined and small and it actively
started from Windows 7 onwards.It doesn't mean rewrite
of the kernel, it's just making it more stream-lined.

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Vbootkit 2.0

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Objective of Vbootkit 2.0

The objective is to get the Windows 7 (x64) running

normally with some of the our changes done to the
kernel.
Also, the Vbootkit 2.0 should pass through all the
security features implemented in the kernel without
being detected namely Patchguard v3, Driver signing.
No files should be patched on disk,it should run
complete in memory to avoid later on detection.

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Overview

Basically, we follow a very simple algorithm for

vbootkit

Hook INT 13 ( for disk reads)

Keep on patching files as they load
Hook onto next stage
Repeat the above process, till we reach the kernel,
then sit and watch the system carefully

Vbootkit 2.0 features a major design change,

Instead of patching protections, we try to take control
in such a place, so as the trigger never occurs but
we get the control in our own hands. 13
Vbootkit – Functional workout

Our code gains execution from the CD-Rom,PXE

relocates ourselves to 0x9e000.
Hook INT 13 .
The hook searches every read request for a
signature,if the signature matches it executes its
payload.
Vbootkit 2.0 reads MBR and starts normal boot
process with INT 13 hook installed
When the NT boot sector loads BOOTMGR.EXE , our
hooks finds the signature and executes the payload
The signature is last 8 bytes from bootmgr.exe
excluding zeroes
The payload patches bootmgr.exe at single location
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Vbootkit – Functional workout (cont.)

Now, the 16 bit header starts execution and we face

the first security check. It’s a simple checksum
protection stored the PE Header.However,we never
modified BOOTMGR.EXE, the check passes
successfully

Now the bootmgr is mapped at 0x400000 and just

before execution is transferred to BOOTMGR.EXE,
Vbootkit gains control
We apply a single patch to BOOTMGR.EXE and give
control back.
BOOTMGR.EXE which used to verify itself earlier, now
no longer verifies itself, thus making our job a lil easier.

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Vbootkit – Functional workout (cont.)

Now bootmgr loads its resources and displays boot

menu.
After the user , selects an Entry to boot, the bootmgr
calls BlImgLoadPEImageEx to load WINLOAD.EXE. It
also verifies the digital signature of the file.
The location is executed just before BOOTMGR.EXE
transfer execution to WINLOAD.
Vbootkit puts a patch in WINLOAD.EXE at a similar
place as in BOOTMGR.EXE. The patch location is
OslArchTransferToKernel for both BOOTMGR and
WINLOAD

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Vbootkit – Functional workout (cont.)

Winload completely trusts BOOTMGR.EXE that it has

provided a safe environment, so it validates all the
options, maps SYSTEM registry hive, loads boot
drivers , prepares a structure called loader block.This
loader block contains entry of al drivers loaded, their
base addresses also also contains the memory map of
the system( which block is used).It also passes the
famous option list, which is processed by kernel to set
some features such as enabling of debugger,DEP
( Data Execution Policy),patchguard etc

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Vbootkit – Functional workout (cont.)

Our Winload detour takes control just before the

control is passed to kernel. This transfer of control takes
place in a function called OslArchTransferToKernel
This detour relocates vbootkit once again to blank
space in kernel memory which has read/write access,
and applies an 20 byte detour to a function called
StartFirstUserProcess.It’s in the INIT section of kernel.It
allocates memory, relocates Vbootkit 2.0 to newly
allocated space and jumps to new location

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Vbootkit – Functional workout (cont.)

First job after obtaining control is to FIX the kernel, to

avoid any triggers and to continue gracefully. We also
create a number of kernel threads which will satisfy the
payloads then return back.

The tasklist done above is

Fix the kernel
Create shell code threads
Allocate workspace buffers
Hook PING requests
Install keylogger
Return back

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Summary of detours applied by Vbootkit 2.0

BIOS MBR Volume Boot Sector

NT
Boot
Sector
WINLOAD.EXE BOOTMGR.EXE

Windows 7 kernel HAL.DLL Boot drivers

Legend CPU Mode

Blue > UNKNOWN
Green > 16 bit
Red > 32 bit
Black > 64 bit
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Payloads

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Remote Command & Control

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Remote Command & Control protocol

Vbootkit 2.0 uses a very simple protocol to

communicate with remote clients. Communication is
done over a PING packets.

The protocol is based on a request response model.

After a request is made, if it cannot be satisfied
immediately, it is put in delayed mode, In delayed
mode, the response will be sent in the next packet

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Remote Command & Control protocol

Command Byte Command Byte

Response Code Byte Response Code Byte

8 Byte signature Response Data

Data

Response Packet
Command Packet

PING Packet

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Remote Command & Control protocol

Command ping Packet

If response is ready, fill packet

with data and mark response Vbootkit
valid affected
Client otherwise mark delayed response Windows 7
System

Get Delayed response if required

Return Response

Communication FLOW
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Privilege Escalation

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Privilege Escalation

All the process running in a system are maintained by

the kernel using a structure called EPROCESS.
These structures are linked together using a doubly
linked list structure
PCB PCB PCB

. . .

UniqueProcessId UniqueProcessId UniqueProcessId

Active Process Links Active Process Links Active Process Links

*BLINK *FLINK *BLINK *FLINK *BLINK *FLINK

… … …

*Token *Token *Token

…. …. ….

Imagename Imagename Imagename

….. ….. …..

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Token structure

typedef struct _EX_FAST_REF

{ union {
PVOID Object;
ULONG RefCnt: 3;
ULONG Value;
};} EX_FAST_REF, *PEX_FAST_REF;
It is part of the Object Manager Fast-Referencing
implementation (ObFastReferenceObject, etc).It allows the
kernel to encode the reference count as a pointer bias, so
that the object is actually only truly "referenced" once with
the Object Manager, and every other additional time inside
the EX_FAST_REF structure itself. The bias towards the
8-byte alignment is the number of fast references an object
can have. When the last fast-reference is removed, the
Object Manager actually gets the real
ObDereferenceObject call 28
How Vbootkit 2.0 does privilege escalation?

Vbootkit first finds SERVICES.EXE, since it is part of

OS and always runs with SYSTEM level privileges and
stores its token
After receiving command, It scans the process list for
running Command Prompts( CMD.EXE), All running
instances are given the service token of
SERVICES.EXE thus giving SYSTEM level privileges.

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Privilege Escalation Demonstration Time

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Keyboard & mouse data flow in Windows

I8xGetByteAsynchronous
function in i8042 driver is
used to fetch data from the
chip. I8042 chip
It's declaration is
I8xGetByteAsynchronous(
char device,char* I8042prt driver
outputbyte)

Keyboard device ID: 1

kbdclass mouclass

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Hooking i8042prt

Hooking at this place has many advantages

Ability to get keyboard data
Ability to get mouse data
Ability to inject keyboard keys
Ability to inject mouse data
Ability to modify data such making 'Z' to 'A' and so on
Single hook lets you do many things
However, there are disadvantages also
More complex
Instead of giving you keys, it gives you scan-codes, both make
and break sequence
You have to map the keys yourself

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Implementation in Vbootkit 2.0

Implementation is basic, the Vbootkit 2.0 internally uses a

256 byte cyclic buffer to store keyboard data. Currently
mouse data is ignored but it can also be captured and
remote transfered easily just as keyboard

Whenever Vbootkit sees a Keyboard Buffer Request

Command, it copies the buffer to the PING packet as
response and continues capturing keystrokes

Returned data is converted to key by the client and is

currently a very basic implementation( only done as POC)

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Remote Keylogger Demonstration

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Password Removal

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Security Accounts Manager (SAM)

SAM stores users' passwords in a hashed format (in an LM

hash and an NTLM hash).It has been reverse engineered
from time to time to obtain the hashes and remove
passwords.

It's structure is not documented. However,some fields are

used .

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Windows 7 Password Checking algorithm

This is real simple.

Check if the NT Hash len field contains 4 or 0, this signifies
password field is black
If the password hash length is not blank, fetch the hash
Calculate hash from user supplied password
Compare both the hash
if equal then login the user
Otherwise display wrong password message

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Password Length fields in V-value in SAM

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Vbootkit 2.0 Password removal

Vbootkit on receiving command to remove password

will go through all the users
And check whether they have a null password
If they have null password, skip the user
Otherwise, null the password length
Keep repeating until all the users have been processed

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Recovering Passwords

After the user's job is done, Vbootkit 2.0 should put

everything in place, so as the original user doesn't
panic
This is done by putting the original nthash length field
to its original value.
This puts the user's password back in place

The whole setup lets us login into the system without

any password, get the job done and then put
everything back in place.

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controlling passwords demo

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Is this enough ??

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of course, NOT

Vbootkit 2.0 currently supports fetching the registry, one

value as a time but right now we support fetching only
strings.

This slowly but steadily lets us build most of the registry of

the remote system.

Key modification is also supported, but the feature is broken

right now.( and yes, we are not fixing it, because this is just
a POC )

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A quick question ?

What's the expected size of Vbootkit 2.0 ??

just 3 KB

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Vbootkit & DRM

Vbootkit 2.0 ( even older Vbootkit 1.0 ) can be used

to capture streams. This is because Vbootkit runs in
completely undetected form( less no. of payloads
definitely means even less chances of detection).

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Protected Media

Path(PMP) model is completely violated by
Vbootkit.

To Capture, all audio streams (in WAV format),

Vbootkit has to put a hook on the CopyTo function
in the right place and the DRM is no longer standing
in your way !!!. This is true for all known and
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References

Brown, Ralf. Ralf Brown’s Interrupt List. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ralf/files.html

Russinovich, Mark. “Inside the Boot Process, Part 1.”
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/3952/3952.html
Windows Vista Security
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsvistasecurity/
Microsoft. Boot Configuration Data Editor FAQ,
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/85cd5efe-c349-427c-b035-
c2719d4af778.mspx
P. N. Biddle. “Next-Generation Secure Computing Base,” PDC, Seatlle, 2004,
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/8/f/18f8cee2-0b64-41f2-893d-
a6f2295b40c8/TW04008_WINHEC2004.ppt
M. Conover (2006, March). “Analysis of the Windows Vista Security Model,”
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/reference/Windows_Vista_Security_Model_A
nalysis.pdf
Microsoft. “First Look: New Security Features in Windows Vista,” TechNet,
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2006/05/FirstLook/default.as
px
Randall Hyde ,Art of assembly Language
Bugcheck and Skape, Kernel Mode Payloads on Windows
http://www.uninformed.org/?v=3&a=4&t=pdf 46
Questionnaire ??

Questions ??
Comments ??
Ideas ??
email us

[email protected]
[email protected]

http://www.nvlabs.in

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Thanks

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