Re: NT WinLogon VM contains plaintext password visible in admin

From: Chris Paget (mad.nutterat_private)
Date: Thu Dec 09 1999 - 02:42:45 PST

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    The API call used is ReadProcessMemory - according to MSDN:
    
    "Before any data transfer occurs, the system verifies that all data in
    the base address and memory of the specified size is accessible for
    read access. If this is the case, the function proceeds; otherwise,
    the function fails."
    
    In this situation, the function fails.  It may well be possible to get
    around this (probably producing access violations in the process) some
    other way; attaching a debugger (such as MSVC) to the winlogon process
    does not work - it is unable to read the first 64k bytes of memory,
    but is quite happy to disassemble the code (probably because it uses
    the same API call).  Also, when you stop debugging, you will terminate
    winlogon, and hence kill NT.
    
    As far as allowing the process to be debugged goes, all aministrators
    are by default granted SeDebugPrivilege, which allows them to debug
    practically anything - including winlogon, afaik.
    
    Alternatively, it may be possible to recover the memory space from
    either a Windows 2000 hiberfil.sys, or Windows NT's memory.dmp after a
    bluescreen; possible even the actual pagefile.  In fact, if the
    passwords are stored in plaintext, it should be possible by any number
    of means.
    
    -- 
    Chris Paget
    C++ Developer - NetInvest LTD.
    
    chris.pagetat_private
    
    
    On Wed, 08 Dec 1999 17:38:18 -0500, you wrote:
    
    >When you say the first 10,000 bytes are not accessable, do you mean that is
    >valid memory, probobly where the passwords are stored, but the system has
    >been hard coded to deny access to it using the debug apis?  What if you set
    >the global flag to enable debugging of winlogon?  Or did you have to do
    >that already?
    



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