Performance Objective

At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to:

  1. Understand how to locate values in a running application using scanmem.

  2. Understand how to manipulate memory during run time.

  3. Identify a tool that can be used to automate malware analysis.

  4. Identify one method by which a VM can be identified by malware.

  5. Identify one reason for analyzing malware.

Introduction

Programming at a low level requires intimate knowledge of your hardware. Understanding how information is stored in ram, accessed by applications, and eventually disposed of or written to permanent storage is important. We will be using an application called scanmem in conjunction with the video game Doom to gain a better understanding of how values can be stored by an application and located or manipulated by the user. While we will be using a video game for demonstration purposes it is important to understand that these concepts are applicable in a wide array of situations.

Installation

You will need the scanmem program for these exercises. We will be manipulating the video game Doom to better understand how memory can be accessed and manipulated in a running application.

Scanmem

$ sudo pacman -S scanmem

Scanmem allows us to locate and modify variables in an executing process. The scanmem application is an interactive debugging utility that can be used to isolate the address of a variable in an executing process by successively scanning the process address space while looking for matching values.

GZDoom

$ yay -S gzdoom

GZDoom is an application that can be used to play the video game Doom. Doom is a 1993 first person shooter made by id Software. Doom has frequently been cited as one of the most important and greatest games of all time. Today, GZDoom provides a simple method to run this family of games via packaged files known as WADS.

Basics

  1. Start GZDoom

  2. Load Doom

  3. Open a terminal and type pidof gzdoom or optionally you can run pgrep gzdoom

  4. Run sudo scanmem 4865

  5. Type the value we are search for and hit enter while modulating the value until you locate it.

You can then SET the value and you will see a result like info: setting *0x56243f28fe88 to 0x3e7... that will reveal you have successfully changed your value.

Finding, reading, and changing values in memory is an iportant aspect of debugging as well as learning how applications function.

pgrep VS pidof

pgrep can match based on regular expressions but pidof is very literal. You can use either to accomplsih your goal of getting the pid for an application.

What is RAM?

RAM is an acronym for random access memory. RAM is the storage place for data that the CPU or central processing unit is working with. RAM is used for storing temporary data that will normally be flushed on shutdown or reset of the computer.

32-bit versus 64-bit

A 32-bit CPU can address a maximum of 4,294,967,296 bytes of RAM. This equals approximately 4 gigabytes. However, in practice the CPU will generally only be able to use around 3.5 gigabytes because some of the RAM will need to be reserved for storing temporary values besides memory addresses.

A 64-bit CPU can theoretically address 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes, or 17,179,869,184 gigabytes (16 exabytes) of memory. A 64-bit computer can certainly access more than 3.5 gigabytes of RAM.

In theory a 64-bit processor is more efficient and capable of operating at much higher speeds than a 32-bit system because of the ability to address more ram and to use processor operations for 64-bit code that would not be available to 32-bit users.

Malware Analysis

Malware analysis is an integral part of the intelligence tool chain that can reveal who is targetting your organization, how they are doing so, and potentially what tools they may be using. It is vital that we each contribute to the knowledge base by becoming familiar with automated tools for analyzing these attack vectors. Tools like Cuckoo can be deployed in a segregated network with minimal effort and they can be used to gather information that can be of importance to law enforcement, investigators, and others.

Setup

The first thing we need to decide on is whether or not we will be using physical hardware for our analytical purposes or deploying virtual machines for handling our malware specimens. The simplest and fastest way to get started is usually virtualization.

I recommend one of two virtualization engines. VirtualBox or virt-manager in conjunction with KVM VM’s. Pick one. Your choice of virtual machine is important but you can work successfully with just about any type of VM provider.

You will need plenty of RAM and a large hard drive space. You may want to strive to have 16 gigabytes or more RAM available on your system. However, it is important to remember that in a virtualized environment, your malware may be able to detect it is in a virtual machine. So don’t rely entirely on a virtual environment. Be prepared to deploy a piece of physical hardware if necessary.

Isolation And Safety

  1. Don’t reuse your equipment. You should not keep personal data on your analytic machine.

  2. Don’t connect your laboratory and personal equipment to the same network. Malware is made to infect and to look for footholds. Don’t provide one.

  3. Use a dedicated DSL or Cable Modem for the connection of the system. Don’t allow the malware in your lab to destroy someone elses system or to attack yours.

  4. Speed up your work flow through the use of automation. Get low hanging fruit.

  5. Take notes and keep ample documentation.

Cuckoo

Cuckoo describes malware as the Swiss army knife of cyber criminals. I agree. The adversary is always looking for a method by which they can gain a foothold into our network, our life, and our wallet. It is important to understand that we must be on the look out for all of the methods by which a plethora of individuals can conduct an attack against us.

Ponderings

  1. What do I want to analyze?

  2. How much analysis do I need to be able to do?

  3. What platforms am I targeting?

  4. What do I want to know?

We need to decide on operating system, language, patch level, and what software we plan to have installed. Analysis of something like malware is as much art as it is science. We need to take a sterile VM and make it look ‘lived in’. If you have no browser history and the malware is designed to hunt for browser history, this will be an obvious issue.

We must never forget that our virtualized machines can be detected and countermeasures against detection must be deployed if we want to get the maximum amount of data from our tools.

Virtualization Detection

Malware can use many tools to detect if it is inside of a virtualized environment. A small list is provided.

  1. Registry Checking and the presence of specific registry keys or searching for specific values such as ‘VMware, Inc.’ can potentially reveal the presence of virtualization.

  2. Memory checking and verifying how memory structures are used. The Store Interrupt Descriptor Table is higher in a virtual environment than a physical machine. The malware might also look for Store Local Descriptor Table, Store Global Descriptor Table, and the Store Task Register.

  3. Malware can run an IN instruction that is normally run from Ring 0. A VM will allow you to run IN from Ring 3 (The OS) and will return a value of ‘VMxh’ to the EBX register. This confirms the existence of a VM.

  4. A VMware MAC address can be presumed by a specific numbering.

  5. Other hardware information can also reveal the existence of a VM.

Countering these issues requires intercepting file and process checks, countering memory checks, and verifying that the OS is unable to communicate with the VM. There also exist tools to assist with this like vmcloak.

Answers

  1. Scanmem provides an automated method by which we can locate values through an interface exposed to the user.

  2. Scanmem provides the SET command to allow us to manipulate memory values.

  3. Cuckoo can be used to automate malware analysis.

  4. Malware can identify a VM through querying the registry in a Windows machine.

  5. Malware analysis provides excellent intelligence on who is targeting us.

Conclusion

Understanding your computer is paramount. Many users feel confidant in their Linux skills but discover very quickly that their skill set is often lacking in the basics. Memory, CPU, and all other low level aspects of the computer are often obfuscated behind the operating system and much of this mysterious real estate will never be explored by even some advanced users.

There exist plenty of tools that can be deployed to simplify your job and to enhance your effectiveness. While some tools do increase complexity in one realm, they can often have benefits that far outweigh the problems. Consider using tools like Cuckoo to assist you in automating your malware scanning and study. You may also consider learning how to follow an application through execution so that you are better prepared in the event that you need to begin dismantling or otherwise gaining insight into the tools being used to attack your network.

Many users dispose of the malware that is being used to target them without a second thought. I think this is a poor use of resources. Setting up even a basic intelligence analysis group for your threats can enhance your safety and the safety of others tremendously. Learn how to profile threat actors, automate and triage attacks, and funnel that information towards law enforcement agencies who can use that data to build cases and develop a course of action for managing these threats.

Final Recommendations

  1. Use Linux.

  2. Learn more about your computer.

  3. Learn how to take notes.

  4. Develop a plan for enhancing your skills.

  5. Share Information.