C++ injection problems - c++

I am having some C++ injection dificulties.
I am using Win 7 x64, VS 2010
Here is the complete code I am trying to run:
http://pastebin.com/avKS3r22
My questions:
Line 62.
dwSize = (DWORD)iCodeEnd - (DWORD)iCode; //subtract the function from the limiter to obtain the function's size
Why is dwSize equal to 4294966986 (I think it is the max value for DWORD) when it should be 224 or 0xE0 if iCodeEnd is 0x01151570 and iCode is 0x01151490? Are there any specific properties I need to set for my project (I created an empty win32 project without Unicode)?
Line 92.
if(!(hRemoteThread = CreateRemoteThread(hProcess, NULL, 0, HREAD_START_ROUTINE)lpAddr, prmAddr, 0, NULL)))
If I manualy set dwSize to 224, I get a "Couldn't create remote thread!". Am I wrong about the value of dwSize? Or is it something else?
Please note:
This is my first C++ application (please provide more detailed answers). The code is not mine, I just rewrote it to learn the basics. The original version is working fine under my platform.

Making iCodeEnd and iCode both static makes the compiler place the functions in memory one
after another. This fixes the dwSize to be just right.
On win7 injecting into processses from the \windows\system32 folder such as notepad fails with "Access denied" error (even with UAC disabled).

Related

Is it good to use ntdll.dll in a win32 console application?

Short:
In my c++ project i need to read/write extended file properties. I managed it with using alternate data streams (ADS). My problem is, for opening the ADS i need to use the CreateFile API. But it is not fulfilling my needs. NtCreateFile will fullfill all my needs. (Or alternatively NtSetEaFile and NtQueryEaFile) But NtCreateFile is not directly accessible from a win32 console application.
I know i can use this function easily via GetProcAdress. But i like to know the opinion of you all, if i did miss something? Some other libs are using this pattern already, for example Chromium (https://github.com/chromium-googlesource-mirror/chromium/blob/1c1996b75d3611f56d14e2b30e7ae4eabc101486/src/sandbox/src/win_utils.cc function: ResolveNTFunctionPtr)
But im uncertain, because the c++ project is not a hobby project and i ask myself if it is dangerous or not.
I guess NtCreateFile is maybe the securest way to do, because it is well documented and supported by winternl.h header. Especially because this method is unchanged since windows 2000. But what is with NtSetEaFile, NtQueryEaFile which are fitting my needs perfectly. They are only half documented. A documentation for ZwSetEaFile and ZwQueryEaFile exist (unchanged since windows 2000).
Reason why i want to do that:
I want to write and read extended properties from files via ADS. But in case of writing the extended property of a given file the first time, i need to open the file with OPEN_ALWAYS. In case of file is not existing it will create a new file, even if i only access not the content stream of the file. To avoid this i get first the handle of the original file and check with this HANDLE if the file still exist.
But i dont want to blog any file with reduced access rights, because from my point of view that is a very bad pattern. The user needs to have full access to any file any time. Because of that we open all HANDLES with the flag FILE_SHARE_DELETE | FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE. And now i have the race.
auto hFile = CreateFileW(originalPath, …, FILE_SHARE_DELETE | FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, …).
// this is the little race: if somebody at least rename originalPath the
// second CreateFileW call will cause the creation of a empty file with the
// path originalPath (the old path).
auto hADS = CreateFileW(originalPath + adsName, …, FILE_SHARE_DELETE | FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, OPEN_ALWAYS, …).
This is a main issue, especially because this happens from time to time in our tests. NtCreateFile will fix it, because i can create the second HANDLE with the help of the first HANDLE. Because of that no race. Or NtSetEaFile and NtQueryEaFile will help, because i only need one HANDLE.
The thing is, that the application needs not to be save for the future, because ADS works only on NTFS anyway. And who knows when NTFS will be exchanged. But i dont want a flaky behaviour. I want to trust this Methods. I I am fine if the API will change in the future and the software needs to adapt to it. But i want to be sure, that all Windows higher or equal then 7 can deal with it. Somebody some experience to share? I would like to hear them very much.
This question is wrong. Your proposed solution for your problem, is not using NtCreateFile, but use CreateFile with dwCreationDisposition set to the OPEN_EXISTING.
From documentation:
OPEN_EXISTING
Opens a file or device, only if it exists. If the specified file or
device does not exist, the function fails and the last-error code is
set to ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND.
Simply open file if exists and set whatever you want. If file is renamed, CreateFile returns ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND.
THE PROBLEM
Now, to your proposed solution, what is better method or why is not possible use ntdll.dll in win32 console application (???).
Again, your "better" method - GetProcAddress is "wrong" same as using linking against ntdll.dll. In Windows 11, or Windows 12 or Windows 3030 the function may be removed and both solutions (statical vs. dynamical import) will be fail.
It is not really unsecure to use this kind of APIs if their is a documentation. In case of NtSetEaFile, NtQueryEaFile and NtCreateFile you can find a description inside of Microsoft's Doc. (keep in mind NtXxx == ZwXxx)
But this API can change in the future and Microsoft does not guarantee that it will provides the same methods in the next Windows version. If you can, use the public API, because then you are safe. If not it is a case by case decision. In this case the three methods from the API are unchanged since Windows2000. Plus for example NtSetEaFile and NtQueryEaFile is used by Microsoft for WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). And especially NtCreateFile is used by a wide range of OpenSource Projects. So it is very unlikely that this API will change.
In my use case another aspect is important. Because I wanted to use ADS, but ADS is only supported by NTFS. So using ADS does not ensure future compatibility as well. So it was very clear for me using NtSetEaFile and NtQueryEaFile.
But how you can use this kind of APIs? Dynamic or static linking is possible. It depends on your needs what is better. In case of static linking you need to download the last WDK (Windows Driver Kit) and link against the ntdll.lib. In case of dynamic linking you can access the dll directly via GetModuleHandle and finding out the address of the method with GetProcAddress. Under Windows ntdll.dll is accessible from any application. In both cases you don't have directly a header file. You have to define the header file by yourself or use WDK to get them.
In my project dynamic linking was the best choice. The reason was, that on every windows the right implementation will be choosen and in case the method is not available i have the chance to deactivate the feature in my software instead of crash. Microsoft is recommending the dynamic way, because of the last reason.
Simple PseudoCode (dynamic case):
typedef struct _FILE_FULL_EA_INFORMATION {
ULONG NextEntryOffset;
UCHAR Flags;
UCHAR EaNameLength;
USHORT EaValueLength;
CHAR EaName[1];
} FILE_FULL_EA_INFORMATION, *PFILE_FULL_EA_INFORMATION;
typedef struct _IO_STATUS_BLOCK {
union {
NTSTATUS Status;
PVOID Pointer;
};
ULONG_PTR Information;
} IO_STATUS_BLOCK, *PIO_STATUS_BLOCK;
typedef NTSTATUS(WINAPI *NtSetEaFileFunction)(IN HANDLE FileHandle,
OUT PIO_STATUS_BLOCK
IoStatusBlock,
IN PVOID Buffer,
IN ULONG Length);
HMODULE ntdll = GetModuleHandle(L"ntdll.dll");
NtSetEaFileFunction function = nullptr;
FARPROC *function_ptr = reinterpret_cast<FARPROC *>(&function);
*function_ptr = GetProcAddress(ntdll, "NtQueryEaFile");
// function could be used normally.
The other answer is incorrect. The reason is that the reason of my problem is, that I need to use OPEN_ALWAYS. Of course, if you don't need this flag, everything is fine. But in my case there is a point where I needed to create the ADS. And it will not be created without the OPEN_ALWAYS flag.

System Error 183 from print call (ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS)

I am trying to get a test page printed from the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) 8.1 Samples (the bitmap sample). Since I did not get any print output, I placed a "GetLastError" call after each call to 'DrvWriteSpoolBuf":
dwWritten = pDevObj->pDrvProcs->DrvWriteSpoolBuf(pDevObj, (void*)&(pOemPDEV->bmFileHeader), sizeof(BITMAPFILEHEADER));
DWORD pdwReturn = GetLastError();
if (pdwReturn != ERROR_SUCCESS)
ERR("OEMEndDoc: Error printing=%ld\n", pdwReturn);
I received Error 183 !!! From System Error Codes:
ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS
183 (0xB7)
Cannot create a file when that file already exists.
Alternate version of call above
DWORD res = pOemPDEV->pOEMHelp->DrvWriteSpoolBuf(pDevObj, &(pOemPDEV->bmFileHeader), sizeof(BITMAPFILEHEADER), &dwWritten);
I get res=E_FAIL
(apology for using bold - comments seem to overlook this result though)
How can I get such an error from printing ? (either to LPT1 or FILE: port)
I have tested the code by saving to a bitmap the exact contents I am trying to send to he spooler, the bitmap was created correctly.
...I apologize for not including more code, it is available at the link I posted above... Windows Driver Kit (WDK) 8.1 Samples
Windows Driver Kit (WDK) 8.1 Samples\OEM Printer Customization Plug-in Samples\C++\bitmap
It seems that, because of a function that was implemented and not disabled, there were two different methods to process image data... I was not aware that each sent their output to the spooler (generating the ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS... is my guess)
(more precisely, while I did not implement FilterGraphics, but only ImageProcessing, I also should have returned S_FALSE for FilterGraphics in the GetImplementedMethod)

RegOpenKey / RegOpenKeyEx returns 2 (file not found) on Windows 7, while key exists

I am trying to read a value from HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes on Windows 7 as a standard user, and although the key exists, I get an error. Both codes below don't success:
l = RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, L"Software\\Classes", 0, KEY_READ, &hKey);
// RegOpenKeyEx doesn't success either
l = RegOpenKey(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, L"Software\\Classes", &hKey);
This code is located in a dll called by an application doing many things (I don't know all that it does).
However, a simple app with just RegOpenKey on the same computer with the same account works perfectly...
Can anyone tell me what could cause the problem and the differences between the two?
The test app is written in c++, while the dll is written in c.
EDIT: Problem solved, by just removing the "L" before L"Software\Classes"...
Likely, the code is running as a different user or its current user isn't in synch with the cached registry key for the process. See RegOpenCurrentUser.
I solved the problem by passing "Software\Classes" instead of L"Software\Classes" to the function.

64 bit windows file opening

I'm trying to use a dialog box to open a file in my program. This works perfectly on a 32 bit system, but when I try to use it on 64 bit it is unable to open the file. I've figured out that if the file trying to be opened is in the same directory as my program, it works fine. Trying to open a file from another folder, however, doesn't work at all.
So, I tried to copy the file to the program folder. This also works fine on 32 bit but doesn't work at all on a 64 system. Any thoughts why?
char cwdl[500];
getcwd(cwdl,500);
string mystring = string(cwdl);
CFileDialog fileDlg(TRUE, NULL, NULL, OFN_FILEMUSTEXIST | OFN_HIDEREADONLY, "All Files (*.*)|*.*||", this);
fileDlg.m_ofn.lpstrTitle = "Select New File";
if( fileDlg.DoModal() == IDOK)
{
CString newFile= fileDlg.GetFileName();
mystring+="\\"+newFile;
const char * newLoc = mystring.c_str();
CopyFile(newFile,newLoc,true);
this is just a snippet of the code.
UAC and file system redirection are related yet different.
User account control is a permissions based security to prevent unauthorized users from changing your file system or executing applications which may affect other users. The prompt allows you to override the security by providing administrator privileges temporarily if that was your intent.
File system redirection is to allow backwards compatibility with 32bit applications by having a mirrored 32bit system folders and registry. In fact if the action causes UAC to kick in redirection does not occur it will always try to use the 64bit version of the file in that case. Unless you specify the redirection directory explicitly or run the 32bit application with administrator privileges to bypass UAC.
Ok that said you are using a relative path so it will look for the file in the current directory for the process. If it's compiled as 32 bit process running it on systems with different architectures may not behave as expected due to aforementioned redirection.
You can use GetCurrentDirectory windows API to see what directory the current process is using and verify it is what you expected. If not you have a few options.
The easiest would be to use fully qualified file paths.
You could also have two builds one targeted for each architecture you intend to deploy on. After all if you're on a 64bit system you might as well deploy 64bit applications.
A more involved option would be to subclass CFileDialog and disable redirection by calling Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection in the constructor and Wow64RevertWow64FsRedirection in the desctructor. However this is meant to be a system setting so you may get new problems by forcing your 32bit application on 64bit windows.
There are probably plenty of other options as well since there is usually many ways to skin a cat. However the first step is to put some debug code in place and verify or eliminate redirection as a culprit with GetCurrentDirectory
Maybe it's just me, but I'm seeing a strange result: in 64-bit mode, the first four bytes of the buffer used to store the location of the path, are filled with zeros.
char wk[_MAX_PATH];
char *ret = _getcwd(wk, _MAX_PATH); // wk = "\0\0\0\0C:\\MyFolder\\..."
// ret = "C:\\MyFolder\\..."
The return value OTOH is correct. "ret" points to wk + 4;
In 32-bit mode, there are no leading zeros, the path starts at the first byte. Note: this is a Multi-byte app, not Unicode.
I'm using Visual Studio 2010 (10.0.40219.1 SP1Rel).
Anyway, if you're getting the same result, that would explain why your example doesn't work. You would have to say (in 64-bit mode only):
string mystring = string(cwdl + 4); // 64-bit only
Weird or What?
Edit: Seems to be an alignment problem. Works OK if the _getcwd is in a separate function.

Why does my code fail to create a directory in "C:\Program Files" under Windows 7?

I am using Windows 7 and I have to run one program in that windows but that program working in Windows XP. This is a Visual C++ program and I am using Visual Studio 2008 for this. When I am running my application, it does not throw any errors, but it does not create a directory in "c:\program files\". So can anyone help me to create directory and exe file?
This is the code I am using:
char szAppPath[MAX_PATH];
char szFileName[MAX_PATH];
DWORD dwResult;
WIN32_FIND_DATA FindFileData;
HANDLE hFind;
dwResult = ExpandEnvironmentStrings( NULL, szAppPath, MAX_PATH); // "%ProgramFiles%"
// do same for NSim directory
strcat(szAppPath,"\\NSim");
hFind = FindFirstFile(szAppPath, &FindFileData);
if (hFind == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
//Directory Does't Exists create New
if(!CreateDirectory(szAppPath,NULL)) //Throw Error
{
MessageBox("Unable to Create N-SIM directory","NSim Installer");
return ;
}
}
else
{
//check if is directory or not
if(!(FindFileData.dwFileAttributes & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY))
{
MessageBox("Can't Create N-SIM directory\n Another file with same name exists","NSim Installer");
return ;
}
FindClose(hFind);
}
//***************************************N-SIM Application****************************
strcpy(szFileName, szAppPath);
HRSRC hRes;
if( bRegister == FALSE)
{
strcat(szFileName,"\\NSim.exe"); //make same name of the Client & Server in program file
hRes = FindResource(NULL, MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDR_LANSIMSERVER),RT_RCDATA);
if(flagUpgrade ==0)
{
CString trial = installationDate(); //----- Detemine Expiry Date -----
setRegistry(trial);
}
}
It's a file permissions issue, plain and simple. Programs can't just go rooting around system directories in Windows 7. That's why it works "properly" in Windows XP, but not in newer versions.
I can't tell for sure, but it looks like you're trying to write an installer. If so, why are you reinventing the wheel? There are tons of great setup utilities available—Visual Studio provides a setup project that you can customize to your needs, or look into Inno Setup, my personal favorite. A Google search will turn up plenty of other options that have already solved this problem for you, and innumerable others.
If this isn't an installer, and you're just trying to store application and/or user data in the Program Files folder, I highly recommend that you look elsewhere. You weren't supposed to shove data into the app folder under earlier versions of Windows, and Windows 7 just cuts you off at the knees if you do this. Your best bet is to follow the recommendations that existed from the beginning: Investigate the user and common Application Data folders carefully. Use the SHGetKnownFolderPath function to retrieve the full path to a known folder using its KNOWNFOLDERID. A couple of suggestions:
FOLDERID_ProgramData (a shared program data directory for all users)
FOLDERID_LocalAppData (a per-user program data directory, non-roaming)
FOLDERID_RoamingAppData (a per-user program data directory, roaming)
Alternatively, you can try running the application as an Administrator. You might want to look into creating a manifest that indicates the application requires administrator-level permissions to execute.
[edit] I edited the code in the question for readability and removed the commented out code (to see the wood for the trees). It is now obvious that nothing initialises szAppPath before calling strcat(), and calling ExpandEnvironmentStrings with NULL as the first argument is undefined (and certainly useless). Calling strcat() on an unitialised string is not likely to have the desired result. This may be an artefact of not posting the real code, or even of other peoples edits (including mine).
CreateDirectory sets the system error code on error; if you want to know what went wrong, check it! Any answer you get here will be an educated guess.
if(!CreateDirectory(szAppPath,NULL)) //Throw Error
{
DWORD errorcode = GetLastError();
LPVOID lpMsgBuf;
FormatMessage(FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
NULL, errorcode, MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT), (LPTSTR)&lpMsgBuf, 0, NULL );
MessageBox(NULL, (LPCTSTR)lpMsgBuf, TEXT("Error"), MB_OK);
return ;
}
If you just want to get the error code and look it up manually, then a complete directory of codes is available on MSDN, here, I would guess that ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED
(5) is most probable. A more elaborate example of error code display is given here.
windows7?
Ok, the problem is not with your program. Its with the file system permissions in Windows 7. User programs cannot create files there.
I think the problem is lack of privileges. You can debug your project to see whether the CreateDirectory function sets an error as ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED, if it does, you should make your program run with an administrator privilege. Add manifest in your project to do so.
It is intended to protect your computer against attack. Well maybe. Or Microsoft deciding to tell you what you are and not allowed to do on your own computer.
In any case you can change your UAC settings if you really have to write there in that way although that obviously exposes you to risk.
Otherwise play nice and do things the Microsoft way, using a proper installer.