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python autoVolatility.py -f MEMFILE -d OUT_DIRECTORY -e /home/user/tools/volatility/vol.py # It will use the most important plugins (could use a lot of space depending on the size of the memory)
Volatility has two main approaches to plugins, which are sometimes reflected in their names. “list” plugins will try to navigate through Windows Kernel structures to retrieve information like processes (locate and walk the linked list of _EPROCESS structures in memory), OS handles (locating and listing the handle table, dereferencing any pointers found, etc). They more or less behave like the Windows API would if requested to, for example, list processes.
That makes “list” plugins pretty fast, but just as vulnerable as the Windows API to manipulation by malware. For instance, if malware uses DKOM to unlink a process from the _EPROCESS linked list, it won’t show up in the Task Manager and neither will it in the pslist.
“scan” plugins, on the other hand, will take an approach similar to carving the memory for things that might make sense when dereferenced as specific structures. psscan for instance will read the memory and try to make_EPROCESS objects out of it (it uses pool-tag scanning, which is searching for 4-byte strings that indicate the presence of a structure of interest). The advantage is that it can dig up processes that have exited, and even if malware tampers with the _EPROCESS linked list, the plugin will still find the structure lying around in memory (since it still needs to exist for the process to run). The downfall is that “scan” plugins are a bit slower than “list” plugins, and can sometimes yield false positives (a process that exited too long ago and had parts of its structure overwritten by other operations).
As explained inside the readme you need to put the symbol table of the OS you want to support inside volatility3/volatility/symbols.
Symbol table packs for the various operating systems are available for download at:
If you want to use a new profile you have downloaded (for example a linux one) you need to create somewhere the following folder structure: plugins/overlays/linux and put inside this folder the zip file containing the profile. Then, get the number of the profiles using:
In the previous chunk you can see that the profile is called LinuxCentOS7_3_10_0-123_el7_x86_64_profilex64, and you can use it to execute something like:
From here: As opposed to imageinfo which simply provides profile suggestions, kdbgscan is designed to positively identify the correct profile and the correct KDBG address (if there happen to be multiple). This plugin scans for the KDBGHeader signatures linked to Volatility profiles and applies sanity checks to reduce false positives. The verbosity of the output and the number of sanity checks that can be performed depends on whether Volatility can find a DTB, so if you already know the correct profile (or if you have a profile suggestion from imageinfo), then make sure you use it from .
Always take a look at the number of processes that kdbgscan has found. Sometimes imageinfo and kdbgscan can find more than one suitable profile but only the valid one will have some process related (This is because to extract processes the correct KDBG address is needed)
The kernel debugger block, referred to as KDBG by Volatility, is crucial for forensic tasks performed by Volatility and various debuggers. Identified as KdDebuggerDataBlock and of the type _KDDEBUGGER_DATA64, it contains essential references like PsActiveProcessHead. This specific reference points to the head of the process list, enabling the listing of all processes, which is fundamental for thorough memory analysis.
OS Information
#vol3 has a plugin to give OS information (note that imageinfo from vol2 will give you OS info)./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.info.Info
The plugin banners.Banners can be used in vol3 to try to find linux banners in the dump.
./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.hashdump.Hashdump#Grab common windows hashes (SAM+SYSTEM)./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.cachedump.Cachedump#Grab domain cache hashes inside the registry./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.lsadump.Lsadump#Grab lsa secrets
volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418hashdump-ffile.dmp#Grab common windows hashes (SAM+SYSTEM)volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418cachedump-ffile.dmp#Grab domain cache hashes inside the registryvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418lsadump-ffile.dmp#Grab lsa secrets
Memory Dump
The memory dump of a process will extract everything of the current status of the process. The procdump module will only extract the code.
RootedCON is the most relevant cybersecurity event in Spain and one of the most important in Europe. With the mission of promoting technical knowledge, this congress is a boiling meeting point for technology and cybersecurity professionals in every discipline.
Try to find suspicious processes (by name) or unexpected child processes (for example a cmd.exe as a child of iexplorer.exe).
It could be interesting to compare the result of pslist with the one of psscan to identify hidden processes.
python3vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.pstree.PsTree# Get processes tree (not hidden)python3vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.pslist.PsList# Get process list (EPROCESS)python3vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.psscan.PsScan# Get hidden process list(malware)
volatility--profile=PROFILEpstree-ffile.dmp# Get process tree (not hidden)volatility--profile=PROFILEpslist-ffile.dmp# Get process list (EPROCESS)volatility--profile=PROFILEpsscan-ffile.dmp# Get hidden process list(malware)volatility--profile=PROFILEpsxview-ffile.dmp# Get hidden process list
Dump proc
./vol.py -f file.dmp windows.dumpfiles.DumpFiles --pid <pid> #Dump the .exe and dlls of the process in the current directory
python3vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.cmdline.CmdLine#Display process command-line arguments
volatility--profile=PROFILEcmdline-ffile.dmp#Display process command-line argumentsvolatility--profile=PROFILEconsoles-ffile.dmp#command history by scanning for _CONSOLE_INFORMATION
Commands executed in cmd.exe are managed by conhost.exe (or csrss.exe on systems before Windows 7). This means that if cmd.exe is terminated by an attacker before a memory dump is obtained, it's still possible to recover the session's command history from the memory of conhost.exe. To do this, if unusual activity is detected within the console's modules, the memory of the associated conhost.exe process should be dumped. Then, by searching for strings within this dump, command lines used in the session can potentially be extracted.
Environment
Get the env variables of each running process. There could be some interesting values.
python3vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.envars.Envars [--pid <pid>]#Display process environment variables
volatility--profile=PROFILEenvars-ffile.dmp [--pid <pid>]#Display process environment variablesvolatility --profile=PROFILE -f file.dmp linux_psenv [-p <pid>] #Get env of process. runlevel var means the runlevel where the proc is initated
Token privileges
Check for privileges tokens in unexpected services.
It could be interesting to list the processes using some privileged token.
#Get enabled privileges of some processespython3vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.privileges.Privs [--pid <pid>]#Get all processes with interesting privilegespython3 vol.py -f file.dmp windows.privileges.Privs | grep "SeImpersonatePrivilege\|SeAssignPrimaryPrivilege\|SeTcbPrivilege\|SeBackupPrivilege\|SeRestorePrivilege\|SeCreateTokenPrivilege\|SeLoadDriverPrivilege\|SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege\|SeDebugPrivilege"
#Get enabled privileges of some processesvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418privs--pid=3152-ffile.dmp|grepEnabled#Get all processes with interesting privilegesvolatility --profile=Win7SP1x86_23418 privs -f file.dmp | grep "SeImpersonatePrivilege\|SeAssignPrimaryPrivilege\|SeTcbPrivilege\|SeBackupPrivilege\|SeRestorePrivilege\|SeCreateTokenPrivilege\|SeLoadDriverPrivilege\|SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege\|SeDebugPrivilege"
SIDs
Check each SSID owned by a process.
It could be interesting to list the processes using a privileges SID (and the processes using some service SID).
./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.getsids.GetSIDs [--pid <pid>]#Get SIDs of processes./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.getservicesids.GetServiceSIDs#Get the SID of services
volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418getsids-ffile.dmp#Get the SID owned by each processvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418getservicesids-ffile.dmp#Get the SID of each service
Handles
Useful to know to which other files, keys, threads, processes... a process has a handle for (has opened)
./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.dlllist.DllList [--pid <pid>]#List dlls used by each./vol.py -f file.dmp windows.dumpfiles.DumpFiles --pid <pid> #Dump the .exe and dlls of the process in the current directory process
volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418dlllist--pid=3152-ffile.dmp#Get dlls of a procvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418dlldump--pid=3152--dump-dir=.-ffile.dmp#Dump dlls of a proc
Strings per processes
Volatility allows us to check which process a string belongs to.
Windows keeps track of programs you run using a feature in the registry called UserAssist keys. These keys record how many times each program is executed and when it was last run.
RootedCON is the most relevant cybersecurity event in Spain and one of the most important in Europe. With the mission of promoting technical knowledge, this congress is a boiling meeting point for technology and cybersecurity professionals in every discipline.
./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.svcscan.SvcScan#List services./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.getservicesids.GetServiceSIDs#Get the SID of services
#Get services and binary pathvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418svcscan-ffile.dmp#Get name of the services and SID (slow)volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418getservicesids-ffile.dmp
Network
./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.netscan.NetScan#For network info of linux use volatility2
volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418netscan-ffile.dmpvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418connections-ffile.dmp#XPand2003onlyvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418connscan-ffile.dmp#TCPconnectionsvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418sockscan-ffile.dmp#Opensocketsvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418sockets-ffile.dmp#Scannerfortcpsocketobjectsvolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_ifconfigvolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_netstatvolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_netfiltervolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_arp#ARP tablevolatility --profile=SomeLinux -f file.dmp linux_list_raw #Processes using promiscuous raw sockets (comm between processes)
volatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_route_cache
Registry hive
Print available hives
./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.registry.hivelist.HiveList#List roots./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.registry.printkey.PrintKey#List roots and get initial subkeys
volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418-ffile.dmphivelist#List rootsvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418-ffile.dmpprintkey#List roots and get initial subkeys
volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418printkey-K"Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion"-ffile.dmp# Get Run binaries registry valuevolatility-ffile.dmp--profile=Win7SP1x86printkey-o0x9670e9d0-K'Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
Dump
#Dump a hivevolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418hivedump-o0x9aad6148-ffile.dmp#Offset extracted by hivelist#Dump all hivesvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418hivedump-ffile.dmp
Filesystem
Mount
#See vol2
volatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_mountvolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_recover_filesystem#Dump the entire filesystem (if possible)
Scan/dump
./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.filescan.FileScan#Scan for files inside the dump./vol.py-ffile.dmpwindows.dumpfiles.DumpFiles--physaddr<0xAAAAA>#Offset from previous command
volatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418filescan-ffile.dmp#Scan for files inside the dumpvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418dumpfiles-n--dump-dir=/tmp-ffile.dmp#Dump all filesvolatility--profile=Win7SP1x86_23418dumpfiles-n--dump-dir=/tmp-Q0x000000007dcaa620-ffile.dmpvolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_enumerate_filesvolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_find_file-F/path/to/filevolatility--profile=SomeLinux-ffile.dmplinux_find_file-i0xINODENUMBER-O/path/to/dump/file
Master File Table
# I couldn't find any plugin to extract this information in volatility3
The NTFS file system uses a critical component known as the master file table (MFT). This table includes at least one entry for every file on a volume, covering the MFT itself too. Vital details about each file, such as size, timestamps, permissions, and actual data, are encapsulated within the MFT entries or in areas external to the MFT but referenced by these entries. More details can be found in the official documentation.
SSL Keys/Certs
#vol3 allows to search for certificates inside the registry
./vol.py -f file.dmp windows.registry.certificates.Certificates
#vol2 allos you to search and dump certificates from memory
#Interesting options for this modules are: --pid, --name, --ssl
volatility --profile=Win7SP1x86_23418 dumpcerts --dump-dir=. -f file.dmp
Malware
./vol.py -f file.dmp windows.malfind.Malfind [--dump] #Find hidden and injected code, [dump each suspicious section]
#Malfind will search for suspicious structures related to malware
./vol.py -f file.dmp windows.driverirp.DriverIrp #Driver IRP hook detection
./vol.py -f file.dmp windows.ssdt.SSDT #Check system call address from unexpected addresses
./vol.py -f file.dmp linux.check_afinfo.Check_afinfo #Verifies the operation function pointers of network protocols
./vol.py -f file.dmp linux.check_creds.Check_creds #Checks if any processes are sharing credential structures
./vol.py -f file.dmp linux.check_idt.Check_idt #Checks if the IDT has been altered
./vol.py -f file.dmp linux.check_syscall.Check_syscall #Check system call table for hooks
./vol.py -f file.dmp linux.check_modules.Check_modules #Compares module list to sysfs info, if available
./vol.py -f file.dmp linux.tty_check.tty_check #Checks tty devices for hooks
Use this script to download and merge all the yara malware rules from github: https://gist.github.com/andreafortuna/29c6ea48adf3d45a979a78763cdc7ce9
Create the rules directory and execute it. This will create a file called malware_rules.yar which contains all the yara rules for malware.
It's possible to read from memory the bash history. You could also dump the .bash_history file, but it was disabled you will be glad you can use this volatility module
The Master Boot Record (MBR) plays a crucial role in managing the logical partitions of a storage medium, which are structured with different file systems. It not only holds partition layout information but also contains executable code acting as a boot loader. This boot loader either directly initiates the OS's second-stage loading process (see second-stage boot loader) or works in harmony with the volume boot record (VBR) of each partition. For in-depth knowledge, refer to the MBR Wikipedia page.
RootedCON is the most relevant cybersecurity event in Spain and one of the most important in Europe. With the mission of promoting technical knowledge, this congress is a boiling meeting point for technology and cybersecurity professionals in every discipline.
