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Hidden Parameter pattern is a variant of Execution Residue and String Parameter where we have parameters left out from stack trace due to register calling conventions and compiler optimizations. However, raw stack analysis in a region around stack frames of interest we find what we are looking for. Here’s an example from an x64 system blocked thread waiting for data from a named pipe:
0: kd> kL
*** Stack trace for last set context - .thread/.cxr resets it
Child-SP RetAddr Call Site
fffffa60`2c3627d0 fffff800`018b90fa nt!KiSwapContext+0x7f
fffffa60`2c362910 fffff800`018add3b nt!KiSwapThread+0x13a
fffffa60`2c362980 fffff800`01b2121f nt!KeWaitForSingleObject+0x2cb
fffffa60`2c362a10 fffff800`01b319b6 nt!IopXxxControlFile+0xdeb
fffffa60`2c362b40 fffff800`018b68f3 nt!NtFsControlFile+0x56
fffffa60`2c362bb0 00000000`778d6eaa nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x13
00000000`11f4da68 00000000`77767b6e ntdll!ZwFsControlFile+0xa
00000000`11f4da70 000007fe`ff94abc8 kernel32!WaitNamedPipeW+0×22f
00000000`11f4db60 000007fe`ff98a32d RPCRT4!NdrProxyForwardingFunction255+0×814d
00000000`11f4dc30 000007fe`ff98918b RPCRT4!OSF_CCONNECTION::TransOpen+0xcd
00000000`11f4dcc0 000007fe`ff988f9b RPCRT4!OSF_CCONNECTION::OpenConnectionAndBind+0×17b
00000000`11f4dd90 000007fe`ff988ec6 RPCRT4!OSF_CCALL::BindToServer+0xbb
00000000`11f4de40 000007fe`ff983368 RPCRT4!OSF_BINDING_HANDLE::InitCCallWithAssociation+0xa5
00000000`11f4dea0 000007fe`ff983220 RPCRT4!OSF_BINDING_HANDLE::AllocateCCall+0×118
00000000`11f4dfd0 000007fe`ffa1f740 RPCRT4!OSF_BINDING_HANDLE::NegotiateTransferSyntax+0×30
00000000`11f4e020 000007fe`ffa1fecb RPCRT4!Ndr64pClientSetupTransferSyntax+0×200
00000000`11f4e080 000007fe`ffa20281 RPCRT4!NdrpClientCall3+0×6b
00000000`11f4e2d0 000007fe`fe087c8c RPCRT4!NdrClientCall3+0xdd
[…]
Even if we disassemble the return address of a caller of WaitNamedPipeW function we won’t easily find the passed first string parameter (named pipe name) unless we do a substancial reverse engineering and data flow analysis:
0: kd> ub 000007fe`ff94abc8
RPCRT4!_imp_load_getaddrinfo+0×7:
000007fe`ff94ab9f jmp RPCRT4!_tailMerge_WS2_32_dll (000007fe`ff94cef8)
000007fe`ff94aba4 call qword ptr [RPCRT4!_imp_GetLastError (000007fe`ffa2d528)]
000007fe`ff94abaa mov r12d,eax
000007fe`ff94abad cmp r12d,0E7h
000007fe`ff94abb4 jne RPCRT4!NdrProxyForwardingFunction255+0×8193 (000007fe`ff99c8fb)
000007fe`ff94abba mov edx,3E8h
000007fe`ff94abbf mov rcx,rsi
000007fe`ff94abc2 call qword ptr [RPCRT4!_imp_WaitNamedPipeW (000007fe`ffa2d3f8)]
So dumping raw stack date around corresponding frames give us pipe name clue and possible service to look further:
0: kd> dpu 00000000`11f4da70
00000000`11f4da70 00000000`11f4dba8 “\\.\PIPE\ServiceArpc”
00000000`11f4da78 00000000`00000000
00000000`11f4da80 00000000`00000000
00000000`11f4da88 00000000`000003e8
00000000`11f4da90 00000000`11f4db30
00000000`11f4da98 00000000`00110018
00000000`11f4daa0 00000000`0d9001a0
00000000`11f4daa8 00000000`0000001a
00000000`11f4dab0 00000000`00000000
00000000`11f4dab8 00000000`00000000
00000000`11f4dac0 00000000`0020000c
00000000`11f4dac8 00000000`0d9001e2 “ServiceArpc”
00000000`11f4dad0 00000000`00000000
00000000`11f4dad8 00000000`00000000
00000000`11f4dae0 00000000`00240022
- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org + TraceAnalysis.org -
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