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

Load vulnerable signed driver
Trigger vulnerability
Achieve kernel read/write
Disable DSE or load unsigned driver
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

Data Source

Important: This skill provides conceptual guidance and overview information. For detailed information use the following sources:

1. Project Overview & Resource Index

Fetch the main README for the full curated list of repositories, tools, and descriptions:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gmh5225/awesome-game-security/refs/heads/main/README.md

The main README contains thousands of curated links organized by category. When users ask for specific tools, projects, or implementations, retrieve and reference the appropriate sections from this source.

2. Repository Code Details (Archive)

For detailed repository information (file structure, source code, implementation details), the project maintains a local archive. If a repository has been archived, always prefer fetching from the archive over cloning or browsing GitHub directly.

Archive URL format:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gmh5225/awesome-game-security/refs/heads/main/archive/{owner}/{repo}.txt

Examples:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gmh5225/awesome-game-security/refs/heads/main/archive/ufrisk/pcileech.txt
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gmh5225/awesome-game-security/refs/heads/main/archive/000-aki-000/GameDebugMenu.txt

How to use:

Identify the GitHub repository the user is asking about (owner and repo name from the URL).
Construct the archive URL: replace {owner} with the GitHub username/org and {repo} with the repository name (no .git suffix).
Fetch the archive file — it contains a full code snapshot with file trees and source code generated by code2prompt.
If the fetch returns a 404, the repository has not been archived yet; fall back to the README or direct GitHub browsing.

3. Repository Descriptions

For a concise English summary of what a repository does, the project maintains auto-generated description files.

Description URL format:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gmh5225/awesome-game-security/refs/heads/main/description/{owner}/{repo}/description_en.txt