Detect Kernel-Mode Rootkits via Real Time Logging & Controlling Memory Access
This addresses security vulnerabilities for users and business systems against advanced malware, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing CPU technologies.
The paper tackles the problem of kernel-mode rootkits bypassing existing antivirus and PatchGuard by proposing a real-time memory access monitoring and control system using Intel VT-x with EPT, implemented as a bare-metal hypervisor called MemoryMonRWX that protects critical kernel memory with low performance degradation.
Modern malware and spyware platforms attack existing antivirus solutions and even Microsoft PatchGuard. To protect users and business systems new technologies developed by Intel and AMD CPUs may be applied. To deal with the new malware we propose monitoring and controlling access to the memory in real time using Intel VT-x with EPT. We have checked this concept by developing MemoryMonRWX, which is a bare-metal hypervisor. MemoryMonRWX is able to track and trap all types of memory access: read, write, and execute. MemoryMonRWX also has the following competitive advantages: fine-grained analysis, support of multi-core CPUs and 64-bit Windows 10. MemoryMonRWX is able to protect critical kernel memory areas even when PatchGuard has been disabled by malware. Its main innovative features are as follows: guaranteed interception of every memory access, resilience, and low performance degradation.