Windows Kernel Security

Overview

This skill covers Windows kernel security topics from the awesome-game-security collection, including driver development, system callbacks, security feature bypasses, and kernel-mode exploitation.

Core Kernel Concepts

Important Structures

• EPROCESS / ETHREAD
• PEB / TEB
• DRIVER_OBJECT
• DEVICE_OBJECT
• IRP (I/O Request Packet)

Key Tables

• SSDT (System Service Descriptor Table)
• IDT (Interrupt Descriptor Table)
• GDT (Global Descriptor Table)
• PspCidTable (Process/Thread handle table)

Security Features

PatchGuard (Kernel Patch Protection)

- Protects critical kernel structures
- Periodic verification checks
- BSOD on tampering detection
- Multiple trigger mechanisms

Driver Signature Enforcement (DSE)

- Requires signed drivers
- CI.dll verification
- Test signing mode
- WHQL certification

Hypervisor Code Integrity (HVCI)

- VBS-based protection
- Kernel code integrity
- Driver compatibility requirements
- Memory restrictions

Secure Boot

- UEFI-based boot verification
- Boot loader chain validation
- Kernel signature checks
- DBX (forbidden signatures)

Kernel Callbacks

Process Callbacks

PsSetCreateProcessNotifyRoutine
PsSetCreateProcessNotifyRoutineEx
PsSetCreateProcessNotifyRoutineEx2

Thread Callbacks

PsSetCreateThreadNotifyRoutine
PsSetCreateThreadNotifyRoutineEx

Image Load Callbacks

PsSetLoadImageNotifyRoutine
PsSetLoadImageNotifyRoutineEx

Object Callbacks

ObRegisterCallbacks
// OB_OPERATION_HANDLE_CREATE
// OB_OPERATION_HANDLE_DUPLICATE

Registry Callbacks

CmRegisterCallback
CmRegisterCallbackEx

Minifilter Callbacks

FltRegisterFilter
// IRP_MJ_CREATE, IRP_MJ_READ, etc.

Driver Development

Basic Structure

NTSTATUS DriverEntry(
    PDRIVER_OBJECT DriverObject,
    PUNICODE_STRING RegistryPath
) {
    DriverObject->DriverUnload = DriverUnload;
    DriverObject->MajorFunction[IRP_MJ_CREATE] = DispatchCreate;
    DriverObject->MajorFunction[IRP_MJ_DEVICE_CONTROL] = DispatchIoctl;
    // Create device, symbolic link...
    return STATUS_SUCCESS;
}

Communication Methods

• IOCTL (DeviceIoControl)
• Direct I/O
• Buffered I/O
• Shared memory

Vulnerable Driver Exploitation

Common Vulnerability Types

• Arbitrary read/write primitives
• IOCTL handler vulnerabilities
• Pool overflow
• Use-after-free

Notable Vulnerable Drivers

- gdrv.sys (Gigabyte)
- iqvw64e.sys (Intel)
- MsIo64.sys
- Mhyprot2.sys (Genshin Impact)
- dbutil_2_3.sys (Dell)
- RTCore64.sys (MSI)
- Capcom.sys

Exploitation Steps

1. Load vulnerable signed driver
2. Trigger vulnerability
3. Achieve kernel read/write
4. Disable DSE or load unsigned driver
5. Execute arbitrary kernel code

PatchGuard Bypass Techniques

Timing-Based

• Predict PG timer
• Modify between checks

Context Manipulation

• Exception handling
• DPC manipulation
• Thread context tampering

Hypervisor-Based

• EPT manipulation
• Memory virtualization
• Intercept PG checks

Kernel Hooking

ETW (Event Tracing for Windows)

- InfinityHook technique
- HalPrivateDispatchTable
- System call tracing

SSDT Hooking (Legacy)

- Modify service table entries
- Requires PG bypass
- High detection risk

IRP Hooking

- Hook driver dispatch routines
- Less monitored than SSDT
- Per-driver targeting

Memory Manipulation

Physical Memory Access

MmMapIoSpace
MmCopyMemory
\\Device\\PhysicalMemory

Virtual Memory

ZwReadVirtualMemory
ZwWriteVirtualMemory
KeStackAttachProcess
MmCopyVirtualMemory

MDL Operations

IoAllocateMdl
MmProbeAndLockPages
MmMapLockedPagesSpecifyCache

Research Tools

Analysis

• WinDbg / WinDbg Preview
• Process Hacker / System Informer
• OpenArk
• WinArk

Utilities

• KDU (Kernel Driver Utility)
• OSR Driver Loader
• DriverView

Monitoring

• Process Monitor
• API Monitor
• ETW consumers

EFI/UEFI Integration

Boot-Time Access

- EFI runtime services
- Boot driver loading
- Pre-OS execution

Memory Access

- GetVariable/SetVariable
- Runtime memory mapping
- Physical memory access

Hypervisor Development

Intel VT-x

• VMCS configuration
• EPT (Extended Page Tables)
• VM exits handling

AMD-V

• VMCB structure
• NPT (Nested Page Tables)
• SVM operations

Use Cases

• Memory hiding
• Syscall interception
• Security monitoring
• Anti-cheat evasion

Resource Organization

The README contains categorized links for:

• PatchGuard research and bypasses
• DSE bypass techniques
• Vulnerable driver exploits
• Kernel callback enumeration
• ETW/PMI/NMI handlers
• Intel PT integration