Process Injection (Dll Injection)

Overview

Process Injection Process Injection in Windows is a technique used by both legitimate software and malware to execute code in the address space of another process. This technique can be used to manipulate the behavior of applications, escalate privileges, evade detection by security software, and execute malicious payloads without triggering alarms.

Disclaimer: This code is developed solely for educational purposes. It is intended to demonstrate how Process Injection works to enhance understanding and improve defensive measures. Do not use this code for malicious activities.

Other Names

Process Injection is also known by several other names:

• Code Injection
• DLL Injection
• Remote Code Injection
• Remote Thread Injection

Purpose

Here’s a list of the purposes for DLL injection:

• Code Execution: Run custom code within the context of another process.
• Privilege Escalation: Gain higher privileges by injecting code into a process with more rights.
• Evasion of Detection: Hide the presence of malicious code by executing it within a trusted process.
• Function Hooking: Intercept and modify the behavior of system or application functions.
• Data Access: Steal or manipulate data within the memory space of another process.
• Debugging and Testing: Inject diagnostic or testing tools into a process to analyze its behavior.
• Process Manipulation: Modify the behavior of a running process by altering its execution flow.

Use Cases

Here’s a list of the use cases for DLL injection:

• Malware Activities: Malicious software injects DLLs into legitimate processes to hide its presence, execute malicious code, or steal sensitive data such as credentials by hooking into functions that handle this information.
• Cheat Tools in Games: Game cheats or bots use DLL injection to modify game behavior, read game memory, or automate tasks within the game, providing unfair advantages to players.
• Security and Monitoring Tools: Security applications inject DLLs into processes to monitor their behavior in real-time, without altering the process itself, allowing for activity tracking, anomaly detection, and forensic analysis.
• Application Customization: Developers and users inject custom DLLs into existing software to add new features, modify the user interface, or change how the software operates without needing access to the original source code.
• Debugging: Programmers inject debugging tools into processes to gain insights into their internal operations, troubleshoot issues, and analyze the software’s behavior under different conditions.
• Bypassing Security Software: Attackers inject code into security software processes to disable or circumvent protections, allowing malware to operate undetected or with reduced restrictions.
• Inter-process Communication: Developers use DLL injection to set up communication channels between different processes, enabling them to exchange data or coordinate activities, often used in complex software ecosystems.

Steps in Dll Injection: A General Approach

Dll Injection involves several steps:

1. Identify the Target Process: Determine the process into which the DLL will be injected.
2. Obtain Process Handle: Use system calls (e.g., OpenProcess) to obtain a handle to the target process with appropriate access rights.
3. Allocate Memory in the Target Process: Allocate memory within the target process’s address space (using VirtualAllocEx) to store the path of the DLL.
4. Write DLL Path to Target Process Memory: Write the path of the DLL into the allocated memory space in the target process using WriteProcessMemory.
5. Load the DLL in the Target Process: Use CreateRemoteThread to call LoadLibrary in the target process, passing the DLL path as an argument to load the DLL.
6. Execute Code (Optional): If needed, execute additional code by invoking functions from the injected DLL.
7. Clean Up (Optional): Free the allocated memory in the target process and close any open handles to prevent detection and maintain stealth.

Usage Guide

You need to provide two parameters in the following format:

ProcessInjection.exe "dllname" "processname"

dllname: The full path of the dll file that you want to inject into the target process
processname: The name of the process you want to inject into

Usage Example: ProcessInjection.exe "C:\path\to\inject.dll" "explorer.exe"

Inputs Criterias

Criteria List of the Dll File:

a. Ensure that the DLL name includes the complete file path

Criteria List of the Process:

a. Ensure that the process name contains the extension (*.exe)

Detection Methods

Here’s a list of detection methods for DLL injection, along with brief explanations:

• Memory Scanning: Scanning the process memory for signs of injected DLLs, such as modules loaded from unusual locations or unsigned code in the process’s memory space.
• Behavioral Analysis: Monitoring processes for unusual behavior patterns that could indicate injection, such as unexpected API calls, abnormal thread creation, or suspicious memory access.
• Monitoring API Calls: Observing specific API calls associated with injection techniques, like VirtualAllocEx, WriteProcessMemory, and CreateRemoteThread.
• Integrity Checking: Verifying the integrity of processes and their loaded modules by comparing them against known-good versions to detect any unauthorized changes or additions.
• Hook Detection: Checking for the presence of hooks in system functions or APIs that could indicate a DLL has been injected to alter their behavior.
• Process Anomaly Detection: Identifying deviations from normal process behavior, such as unusual memory allocation patterns, unexpected threads, or abnormal resource usage.
• Stack and Heap Analysis: Analyzing the stack and heap for inconsistencies or anomalies that could indicate the presence of injected code.
• Code Signing Verification: Ensuring that all loaded modules within a process are signed and verifying their signatures against trusted authorities to detect unauthorized or malicious DLLs.
• Loaded Modules Enumeration: Enumerating all modules loaded into a process and checking for known or suspicious DLLs that shouldn’t be there.

Important Notice

This project is intended for educational purposes only. The techniques demonstrated here are commonly used by malware, and it is important to understand them to develop effective defenses. Do not use this code for malicious activities.