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Bypassing Frida dynamic function call tracing
by e__soriano
UPDATE: Paper!!!!
This post has been converted into an article about antifrida techniques.
How to cite this work: Soriano-Salvador, E., Guardiola-Múzquiz, G. Detecting and bypassing frida dynamic function call tracing: exploitation and mitigation. J Comput Virol Hack Tech 19, 503–513 (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s11416-022-00458-7
Open version: PDF available here
Old blog entry (“preprint” content)
Frida is an amazing dynamic analysis tool, it’s quite powerful. Lately, I’ve been learning how to use it and wondering how it works. What mechanisms are used?
There are different modes (embedded, injected and preloaded). The default
mode is the injected one. In summary, it uses ptrace to hijack the
control flow of the analyzed process. Then, it allocates some memory in
the process memory space and injects a library (.so), the agent.
This agent uses IPC mechanisms (fifo, signals, etc.)
to communicate with external tools. The code of the process is manipulated
to intercept the function calls and analyze them. In order to do the job, it
also uses mmap, dlopen, dlsym, etc.
I figured that Frida was using dlsym to hook and intercept
the library functions, as usual. Later, I read their
OSDC 2015 presentation
and realized that Frida uses another mechanism to intercept calls.
Frida rewrites the prelude of traced functions. The beginning of the function is replaced by their code, that jumps to a trampoline (a mechanism similar to that in the PLT/GOT for lazy binding). Once the call is intercepted, the flow is redirected to the agent and the magic is done. The agent can execute whatever it needs: incrementally, for each branch in the function, the stalker rewrites the basic blocks and stores them in a new executable page.
Detection
After reading the description, it’s easy to see how a malicious binary could detect Frida. It can inspect the memory space of the process and find the regions for the mapped library (the agent). If we execute a simple program and inspect the memory maps:
$> cat /proc/12555/maps | grep frida
$>
Now, if we run frida-trace in another terminal (as root)
to intercept the calls for open (the
libc function for the open syscall):
$> frida-trace --version
14.2.18
$> frida-trace -i open a.out
and dump the maps again:
$> cat /proc/12555/maps | grep frida
7fea7168a000-7fea72c53000 r-xp 00000000 103:04 1968850 /tmp/frida-81be93df197f7fb45dea328c7237c270/frida-agent-64.so
7fea72c53000-7fea72c54000 ---p 015c9000 103:04 1968850 /tmp/frida-81be93df197f7fb45dea328c7237c270/frida-agent-64.so
7fea72c54000-7fea72cde000 r--p 015c9000 103:04 1968850 /tmp/frida-81be93df197f7fb45dea328c7237c270/frida-agent-64.so
7fea72cde000-7fea72cf6000 rw-p 01653000 103:04 1968850 /tmp/frida-81be93df197f7fb45dea328c7237c270/frida-agent-64.so
$>
we find a library that should not be there.
In order to do that, the malicious binary should inspect the address space, performing suspicious system calls that would alert the analyst.
Nevertheless, given the mechanisms used by Frida to intercept the calls, there is a more subtle way to detect that the binary is being analyzed: the binary can check if the original preludes have been changed.
This method does not require any external function or syscall. You only need to check some bytes. If the preludes have been changed, Frida is around.
Evasion
If the analyzed binary detects Frida, it can try to bypass the interception. How? The binary can restore the original prelude before calling the function. Moreover, it can hide just the important calls (those that perform the suspicious malicious actions) and let Frida intercept the rest of calls.
Suppose the following example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void
dumpprelude(unsigned char *f)
{ int i;
int c;
for(i=0; i<32; i++){
fprintf(stderr, "%02x", *(f+i));
}
fprintf(stderr, "\npress enter...\n");
read(0, &c, 1);
}
int
f(int x)
{
fprintf(stderr, "f says hi!\n");
return ++x;
}
int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int x;
dumpprelude((unsigned char*)f);
dumpprelude((unsigned char*)f);
x = f(13);
fprintf(stderr, "x is %d\n", x);
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
If we compile and execute (pressing enter when prompted):
$> gcc -o ex1 ex1.c
$> ./ex1
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05942d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05942d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
f says hi!
x is 14
$>
we can see that the prelude of the function doesn’t change.
If we execute it again:
$> ./ex1
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05942d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
and, before pressing enter, we run frida-trace as root in another
terminal like this (in order to trace f, with offset 0x1276 in the
binary text):
$> nm ex1 | grep ' f$'
0000000000001276 T f
$> frida-trace -a ex1\!0x1276 ex1
Instrumenting...
sub_1276: Auto-generated handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/ex1/sub_1276.js"
Started tracing 1 function. Press Ctrl+C to stop.
then we press enter in the other terminal
e98d4d00004889e54883ec10897dfc488b05942d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press intro...
f says hi!
x is 14
$>
frida-trace intercepts one call (f
is named sub_1276()):
/* TID 0x38f4 */
7393 ms sub_1276()
Process terminated
$>
We can observe that the prelude has changed (the first 5 bytes):
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05942d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
e98d4d00004889e54883ec10897dfc488b05942d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
The first two instructions of function f have been replaced
for jumping to the Frida trampoline:
$> r2 ex1
-- ♥ --
[0x000010e0]> pd 5 @ 0x1276
;-- f:
0x00001276 f30f1efa endbr64
0x0000127a 55 pushq %rbp
0x0000127b 4889e5 movq %rsp, %rbp
0x0000127e 4883ec10 subq $0x10, %rsp
0x00001282 897dfc movl %edi, -4(%rbp)
[0x000010e0]>
Now, lets try to modify the example to restore the original prelude:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
void
dumpprelude(unsigned char *f)
{ int i;
int c;
for(i=0; i<32; i++){
fprintf(stderr, "%02x", *(f+i));
}
fprintf(stderr, "\npress enter...\n");
read(0, &c, 1);
}
int
f(int x)
{
fprintf(stderr, "f says hi!\n");
return ++x;
}
int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int x;
dumpprelude((unsigned char*)f);
dumpprelude((unsigned char*)f);
memcpy((void*)f, "\xf3\x0f\x1e\xfa\x55", 5);
dumpprelude((unsigned char*)f);
x = f(13);
fprintf(stderr, "x is %d\n", x);
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
If we execute it (running frida-trace in another terminal
as in the previos example; note
that the offset has changed, now it’s 0x1296):
$> ./ex1
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05742d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
e96d4d00004889e54883ec10897dfc488b05742d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05742d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
f says hi!
x is 14
$>
Now Frida says:
$> frida-trace -a ex1\!0x1296 ex1
Instrumenting...
sub_1296: Auto-generated handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/ex1/sub_1296.js"
Started tracing 1 function. Press Ctrl+C to stop.
Process terminated
$>
The call has not been intercepted.
Note that we don’t need to use memcpy to restore the prelude, we
could use a simple loop. This way, we don’t depend on any library function
or syscall to restore the prelude.
Wait, we wrote a .text page and there was not a segmentation fault?
Why?
Frida leaves the write permission for the page enabled after modifying the code:
56550bc57000-56550bc58000 rwxp 00001000 103:02 4724567 /tmp/ex1
So, if we run the example without running frida-trace for tracing the
process, it receives the SIGSEGV:
$> ./ex1
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05742d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
f30f1efa554889e54883ec10897dfc488b05742d00004889c1ba0b000000be01
press enter...
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
$>
Frida leaves this permission enabled
and that’s very convenient for the evasion:
We don’t need to use mprotect to enable it. Note that
using mprotect is a striking clue of malicious activity.
Thus, we are able to perform silent calls to selected functions by using a simple C macro with the following parameters:
- Variable to store the return value
- Function to be called
- Array with the original prelude for the function
- Arguments for the function (variadic)
For example:
#define HIDECALL(RET,FUNC,PRELUDE,...) \
{ int i; \
int presz = sizeof(PRELUDE); \
unsigned char aux[presz]; \
for(i = 0; i < presz; i++) {\
if(*(((unsigned char*)FUNC)+i) != PRELUDE[i]){\
break;\
} \
} \
if(i != presz){ \
for(i = 0; i < presz; i++){ \
aux[i] = *(((unsigned char*)FUNC)+i); \
*(((unsigned char*)FUNC)+i) = PRELUDE[i]; \
} \
RET = FUNC(__VA_ARGS__); \
for(i = 0; i < presz; i++){ \
*(((unsigned char *)FUNC)+i) = aux[i]; \
} \
}else{ \
RET = FUNC(__VA_ARGS__); \
} \
}
This macro:
- Checks if the prelude is the original one
- If not, it copies the original one, calls the function and restores the Frida prelude
- Else, it calls the function normally (Frida is not around)
In general, this is dirty code, but in this case it’s just what we need to do the job. Alternatively, it could be implemented as an inline function.
A malicious binary could use the macro to hide the important calls (i.e. evidences of malicious activity).
Example
The following program dumps a file (the path is passed as an argument).
If the -s flag is used, it dumps the file silently:
calls to the libc functions open, read, write and close
are hidden (i.e. they will not be intercepted).
These functions will perform the required syscalls to read and write the file.
Function silentreadall implements that.
If the flag is not used, those libc functions are called
normally (readall function).
The original preludes for open, read, write and close
are stored in global variables:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <err.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
enum{
Bsz = 1024,
};
#define HIDECALL(RET,FUNC,PRELUDE,...) \
{ int i; \
int presz = sizeof(PRELUDE); \
unsigned char aux[presz]; \
for(i = 0; i < presz; i++) {\
if(*(((unsigned char*)FUNC)+i) != PRELUDE[i]){\
break;\
} \
} \
if(i != presz){ \
for(i=0; i<presz; i++){ \
aux[i] = *(((unsigned char*)FUNC)+i); \
*(((unsigned char*)FUNC)+i) = PRELUDE[i]; \
} \
RET = FUNC(__VA_ARGS__); \
for(i=0; i<presz; i++){ \
*(((unsigned char *)FUNC)+i) = aux[i]; \
} \
}else{ \
RET = FUNC(__VA_ARGS__); \
} \
}
unsigned char openprelude[] = {
0xf3, 0x0f, 0x1e, 0xfa, 0x41, 0x54,
0x41, 0x89,
};
unsigned char readprelude[] = {
0xf3, 0x0f, 0x1e, 0xfa, 0x64, 0x8b,
0x04, 0x25, 0x18, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
};
unsigned char writeprelude[] = {
0xf3, 0x0f, 0x1e, 0xfa, 0x64, 0x8b,
0x04, 0x25, 0x18, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
};
unsigned char closeprelude[] = {
0xf3, 0x0f, 0x1e, 0xfa, 0x64, 0x8b,
0x04, 0x25, 0x18, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
};
void
usage(void)
{
fprintf(stderr, "usage: readfile [-s] path\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
void
readall(char *path)
{
int fd;
int nr;
char buf[Bsz];
fd = open(path, O_RDONLY);
if(fd < 0){
err(EXIT_FAILURE, "open failed");
}
while((nr = read(fd, buf, Bsz)) > 0){
if(write(1, buf, nr) != nr){
err(EXIT_FAILURE, "write failed");
}
}
if(nr < 0){
err(EXIT_FAILURE, "read failed");
}
close(fd);
}
void
silentreadall(char *path)
{
int fd;
int nr;
char buf[Bsz];
int ret;
HIDECALL(ret, open, openprelude, path, O_RDONLY);
fd = ret;
if(fd < 0){
err(EXIT_FAILURE, "open failed");
}
for(;;){
HIDECALL(ret, read, readprelude, fd, buf, Bsz);
nr = ret;
if(nr <= 0)
break;
HIDECALL(ret, write, writeprelude, 1, buf, nr);
if(ret != nr){
err(EXIT_FAILURE, "write failed");
}
};
if(nr < 0){
err(EXIT_FAILURE, "read failed");
}
HIDECALL(ret, close, closeprelude, fd);
}
int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
char c;
fprintf(stderr, "press enter...\n");
read(0, &c, 1);
argc--;
argv++;
if(argc < 1 || argc > 2){
usage();
}
if(argc == 2){
if(strcmp(argv[0], "-s") != 0){
usage();
}
silentreadall(argv[1]);
}else{
readall(argv[0]);
}
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
If this program is executed:
$> seq -w 1 1000 > /tmp/f
$> ./readfile-simple /tmp/f
press enter...
0001
0002
...
0996
0997
0998
0999
1000
$>
If we use the -s flag:
$> ./readfile-simple -s /tmp/f
press enter...
0001
0002
...
0996
0997
0998
0999
1000
$>
Ok, it works.
Now, we run it without the -s flag and execute
frida-trace before pressing enter:
$> frida-trace -i open -i read -i write -i close readfile-simple
Instrumenting...
open: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/open.js"
read: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/read.js"
write: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/write.js"
close: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/close.js"
open: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/open.js"
read: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/read.js"
write: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/write.js"
close: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/close.js"
Started tracing 8 functions. Press Ctrl+C to stop.
/* TID 0x4445 */
1986 ms open(pathname="/tmp/f", flags=0x0)
1986 ms read(fd=0x4, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms write(fd=0x1, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms read(fd=0x4, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms write(fd=0x1, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms read(fd=0x4, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms write(fd=0x1, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms read(fd=0x4, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms write(fd=0x1, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms read(fd=0x4, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms write(fd=0x1, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x388)
1986 ms read(fd=0x4, buf=0x7ffcb03292f0, count=0x400)
1986 ms close(fd=0x4)
Process terminated
$>
frida-trace is able to intercept them.
If we do the same with the -s flag:
$> frida-trace -i open -i read -i write -i close readfile-simple
Instrumenting...
open: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/open.js"
read: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/read.js"
write: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/write.js"
close: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libc_2.31.so/close.js"
open: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/open.js"
read: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/read.js"
write: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/write.js"
close: Loaded handler at "/tmp/__handlers__/libpthread_2.31.so/close.js"
Started tracing 8 functions. Press Ctrl+C to stop.
Process terminated
$>
The hidden calls have not been intercepted and the program works fine:
$> ./readfile-simple -s /tmp/f
press enter...
0001
0002
...
0996
0997
0998
0999
1000
$>
Conclusions
We can easily detect and bypass the frida-trace interception mechanism
without depending on any library function or syscall. Moreover, the code
generated by the macro is more complex, so it’s harder to
analyze the disassembly.
I’m probably not the first one to notice this issue. Anyway, I haven’t read anything related (but I didn’t do a proper research before writing this post). I understand that Frida developers are aware of it.
We should study the Frida code (which is not trivial) before searching specific solutions. A possible solution may be disabling the write permission of code pages after the instrumentation is done and monitor mprotect syscalls. Another approach could be detecting changes in the modified preludes (maybe by using umwait and umonitor ? I used the kernel space vesions time ago and they were tricky; I don’t know the userspace versions).
UPDATE: Frida devs are aware of this post and commented: (about restoring the original page permissions) “it’s probably something we should do as part of enhancing Interceptor so it’s able to suspend other threads to make it safe to patch functions that might have calls in progress.”
UPDATE 2: I’m testing new methods to detect modifications of the preludes, umwait and umonitor are not suitable (these instructions need to change the state of the core; that would be an overkill). Now, I’m playing with the soft dirty bit of the page table entries (PTE). Stay tuned.
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