//Disable PatchGuard - the easy/lazy way.
//for Vista SP2 & Windows 7 (X64)
//
//by Fyyre (thank you Roxaz for helping me to test)
//http://fyyre.l2-fashion.de/
//

This txt file provides a general overview/outline for bypassing signature validation of critical system files (ntoskrnl, mainly) during
the Vista/Win 7 boot phase.  It is documentation of the steps taken from start to finish, to reach the desired goal of removing
kernel patch protection "PatchGuard" without use of a driver.  We will call this the 'lazy/easy' way to kill PatchGuard.

We cannot modify ntoskrnl without winload taking up issue...

winload.exe is the Windows loader for Vista & Windows 7.  Along with this, he makes some verification of digital signatures and
checking to make sure the files have not been modified.  If modification of ntoskrnl is detected, the result is winload *refusing*
to boot Windows and launching a WinPE looking "Recovery Mode".

PART I: disassembly and modification of winload.exe

Starting from OslpMain, after loading the System registry hives(registry)... occurs a call to OslInitializeCodeIntegrity:

.text:00000000004016C3                 call    OslpLoadSystemHive
.text:00000000004016C3
.text:00000000004016C8                 cmp     eax, ebx
.text:00000000004016CA                 mov     edi, eax
.text:00000000004016CC                 jl      loc_401A08
.text:00000000004016CC
.text:00000000004016D2                 mov     ecx, ebp
.text:00000000004016D4                 call    OslInitializeCodeIntegrity <<-- =(


.text:00000000004057E8 OslInitializeCodeIntegrity proc near

original code -->>

We will replace four bytes here:

48 8B C4 53
.text:00000000004057E8                 mov     rax, rsp
.text:00000000004057EB                 push    rbx
.text:00000000004057EC                 push    rbp


with: 0B0h, 01h, 0C3h, 090h ... which produce:

mov al, 1
ret
nop

Save as winload.exe as osloader.exe (or whatever..) & correct PE checksum (LordPE and/or CFF_Explorer will do).  Copy osloader.exe to \Windows\System32

PART II - new BCD entry:

bcdedit /copy {current} /d "PatchGuard Disabled"

"The entry was successfully copied to {01234567-89ab-cdef-00ff-fff000ffffff}" <<-- GUID of new entry.  each is different!

bcdedit /timeout 10 <<-- number of seconds to show boot menu.

bcdedit /set {01234567-89ab-cdef-00ff-fff000ffffff} nointegritychecks 1 <<-- no validation of winload

bcdedit /set {01234567-89ab-cdef-00ff-fff000ffffff} recoveryenabled 0 <<-- optional

bcdedit /set {01234567-89ab-cdef-00ff-fff000ffffff} path \Windows\system32\osloader.exe

bcdedit /set {01234567-89ab-cdef-00ff-fff000ffffff} kernel ntkrnlmp.exe (name of modified ntos... =))

Part III: Skip Initialization of PatchGuard - - (driver not required)

As for this .txt, and PatchGuard... we are concerned with one function KiInitializePatchGuard(*1) which is called by KiFilterFiberContext.
KiInitializePatchGuard is a very large function located in the INIT section of ntoskrnl, you can easily locate him via two calls from
KiFilterFiberContext, by examination xrefs to exported dword InitSafeBootMode, searching for db 20h dup(90h) + db 044h ... or 48 81 EC 58 0F 00 00 to
name a few...

PatchGuard does not initialize if we boot into safe mode.  So to disable we just patch one conditional jxx

KiInitializePatchGuard:

original code -->>
INIT:000000014055D359 sub     rsp, 0F58h
INIT:000000014055D360 xor     edi, edi
INIT:000000014055D362 cmp     cs:InitSafeBootMode, edi
INIT:000000014055D368 jz      short loc_14055D371
INIT:000000014055D368
INIT:000000014055D36A mov     al, 1
INIT:000000014055D36C jmp     loc_1405600D9

modified code -->>
INIT:000000014055D359                 sub     rsp, 0F58h
INIT:000000014055D360                 xor     edi, edi
INIT:000000014055D362                 cmp     cs:InitSafeBootMode, edi
INIT:000000014055D368                 nop
INIT:000000014055D369                 nop
INIT:000000014055D36A                 mov     al, 1
INIT:000000014055D36C                 jmp     loc_1405600D9 <<-- to end of KiInitializePatchGuard

and back to KiFilterFiberContext... and important detail:

The first jxx in KiInitializePatchGuard must not be taken & al == 1.  When we return to KiFilterFiberContext, the jxx must be taken,
and EBX must not be xor'd ... (unless enjoy BSOD).

INIT:0000000140567110 loc_140567110:
INIT:0000000140567110                 test    al, al
INIT:0000000140567112                 jnz     short loc_140567116
INIT:0000000140567112
INIT:0000000140567114
INIT:0000000140567114 loc_140567114:
INIT:0000000140567114                 xor     ebx, ebx <<-- bad
INIT:0000000140567114

Anyways... nop the first jxx in KiInitializePatchGuard... save modified ntoskrnl.exe with a different name (i.e. ntkrnlmp.exe) ... fix checksum (PE header).
Then copy your modified kernel to \Windows\system32 -- with bcdedit -->>

bcdedit /set {guid-of-new-entry} kernel ntkrnlmp.exe

When you reboot the system, loading your modified kernel should be a success... He will load without PatchGuard initializing, which will allow you to
once again play in kernel mode without receiving BSOD as result...

This could be worked into mbr bootkit code as well... this is beyond the scope of our intention.

-Fyyre

references:
*1: Bypassing PatchGuard on Windows x64, by Skywing 12/1/2005