!monitor (monitor read/write to a page)
Description of the '!monitor' command in HyperDbg.
!monitor
!monitor [Mode (string)] [FromAddress (hex)] [ToAddress (hex)] [pid ProcessId (hex)] [core CoreId (hex)] [imm IsImmediate (yesno)] [buffer PreAllocatedBuffer (hex)] [script { Script (string) }] [condition { Condition (hex) }] [code { Code (hex) }]
Monitors read or write or read/write to a range of addresses. If any read or write on your range address (memory), it will be triggered.
It is exactly like read/write of Hardware Debug Registers but without any size and count limitation.
[Mode (string)]
Can be one of these values :
rw : trigger in the case of reading and writing.
r : trigger in the case of reading.
w : trigger in the case of writing.
[FromAddress (hex)]
The start Virtual address of where we want to monitor for reading or writing.
[ToAddress (hex)]
The end of Virtual address of where we want to monitor for reading or writing.
[pid ProcessId (hex)] (optional)
Optional value to trigger the event in just a specific process. Add
pid xx to your command; thus, the command will be executed if the process id is equal to xx. If you don't specify this option, then by default, you receive events on all processes.Still, in the case of user-mode debugging, HyperDbg will apply it only to the current active debugging process (not all the processes). In that case, you can specify
pid all to intercept events from the entire system.[core CoreId (hex)] (optional)
Optional value to trigger the event in just a specific core. Add
core xx to your command thus command will be executed if core id is equal to xx. If you don't specify this option, then by default, you receive events on all cores.[imm IsImmediate (yesno)] (optional)
Optional value in which
yes means the results (printed texts in scripts) should be delivered immediately to the debugger. no means that the results can be accumulated and delivered as a couple of messages when the buffer is full; thus, it's substantially faster, but it's not real-time. By default, this value is set to yes.[buffer PreAllocatedBuffer (hex)] (optional)
[script { Script (string) }] (optional)
[condition { Condition (hex) }] (optional)
[code { Code (hex) }] (optional)
As the Context (
$context pseudo-register in the event's script, r8 in custom code, and rdx in condition code register) to the event trigger, HyperDbg sends the virtual address of the memory that has accessed and triggered this event.It's a virtual address equal to or between [from address] and [to address], so it's not a constant address and might differ in the range you entered.
This event supports three debugging mechanisms.
- Break
- Script
- Custom Code
Please read "How to create a condition?" if you need a conditional event, a conditional event can be used in all "Break", "Script", and "Custom Code".
Imagine we want to put a monitor writes but not reads on address from
fffff800`4ed60000 to fffff800`4ed60100 , this will break to the debugger and gives the control back to you.HyperDbg> !monitor w fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100
If we want reads but not writes.
HyperDbg> !monitor r fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100
If we want both reads and writes.
HyperDbg> !monitor rw fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100
Alternatively, you can use
nt!Kd_DEFAULT_Mask too.HyperDbg> !monitor rw nt!Kd_DEFAULT_Mask nt!Kd_DEFAULT_Mask+4
Using the following command, you can use HyperDbg's Script Engine. You should replace the string between braces (
HyperDbg Script Here) with your script. You can find script examples here.HyperDbg> !monitor w fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100 script { HyperDbg Script Here }
The above command when messages don't need to be delivered immediately.
HyperDbg> !monitor w fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100 script { HyperDbg Script Here } imm no
Script (From File)
If you saved your script into a file, then you can add
file: instead of a script and append the file path to it. For example, the following examples show how you can run a script from file:c:\users\sina\desktop\script.txt.HyperDbg> !monitor w fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100 script {file:c:\users\sina\desktop\script.txt}
You can use event forwarding to forward the event monitoring results from this event and other events to an external source, e.g., File, NamedPipe, or TCP Socket. This way, you can use HyperDbg as a monitoring tool and gather your target system's behavior and use it later or analyze it on other systems.
Please read "How to create an action?" to get an idea about how to run a custom buffer code in HyperDbg.
Your custom code will be executed in vmx-root mode. Take a look at this topic for more information. Running code in vmx-root is considered "unsafe".
Run Custom Code (Unconditional)
Monitoring reads and writes on address from
fffff800`4ed60000 to fffff800`4ed60100 and run 3 nops whenever the event is triggered. Take a look at Run Custom Code for more information.HyperDbg> !monitor rw fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100 code {90 90 90}
Run Custom Code (Conditional)
Monitoring reads and writes on address from
fffff800`4ed60000 to fffff800`4ed60100 and run 3 nops whenever the event condition is triggered and run 3 nops whenever the event is triggered. Take a look at Run Custom Code and how to create a condition for more information.HyperDbg> !monitor rw fffff800`4ed60000 fffff800`4ed60100 code {90 90 90} condition {90 90 90}
Keep in mind that a conditional event can be used in Breaking to Debugger and Running Script too.
As EventType use
HIDDEN_HOOK_READ in the case you want just reads, use HIDDEN_HOOK_WRITE in the case you want just writes and use HIDDEN_HOOK_READ_AND_WRITE in the case you want both reads and writes and send the start address (from address) of where you want to monitor in OptionalParam1and end address (to address) of where you want to monitor in OptionalParam2address DEBUGGER_GENERAL_EVENT_DETAIL.You shouldn't use any of !monitor, !epthook, and !epthook2 commands on the same page (4KB) simultaneously. For example, when you put a hidden hook (!epthook2) on 0x10000005, you shouldn't use any of !monitor or !epthook commands on the address starting from 0x10000000 to 0x10000fff.
You can use !epthook (just !epthook not !epthook2 and not !monitor) on two or more addresses on the same page (means that you can use the !epthook multiple times for addresses between a single page or putting multiple hidden breakpoints on a single page). But you can't use !monitor or !epthook2 twice on the same page.
If you need to reserve more pre-allocated pools for this command, you can use the 'prealloc' command.
This is an event command, but in the current version of HyperDbg (in Debugger Mode), this command will continue the debuggee for some time; however, you can use this trick to make sure you won't lose any event.
Post-Nehalem Processor (EPT)