pe_hedera is a Python 3 library that allows to execute a Windows executable and define Python hooks which are executed before and/or after function calls.

Get the Python 3 package here. From the pe_hedera directory (where setup.py is)

python -m pip install .

NOTE: the library uses process injection, so Windows Defender (and probably other AVs) will not like it.

A session represents the context of execution of the target process. To set up a session, create a object HederaSession with the target command line as argument:

session = HederaSession(["notepad.exe", "test.txt"])
session.initialize()

At this point the process is already created, but it is suspended. In order to start the execution, simply call

session.start()

Session objects have the attribute image_base, the address at which the image of the executable is loaded in the target process. This is useful to set address-based hooks when ASLR is enabled.

Through a session object we can perform the following actions:

• session.read_mem(addr, size)
• session.write_mem(addr, data)
• session.stop()

When the target process creates a new process, the library asks whether to switch to it, applying there the current hooks. Additionally, the constructor of HederaSession accepts the parameter auto_switch. If set to True, the library performs the switch without asking for user confermation.

Once the session is ready, add the desired hooks. There are two ways to define a hook, either by symbol name (DLL name + function name), or by address. Each hook accepts a handler that is executed before the target function (before-hook) and one that is executed after it (after-hook).

name_hook = HederaHook(session, 
                       dll_name="kernel32.dll",
                       function="CreateFileA",
                       param_num=7,
                       before_hook=my_before_hook,
                       after_hook=my_after_hook)
                       
address_hook = HederaHook(session, 
                          address=session.image_base+0x1090
                          param_num=3,
                          before_hook=my_before_hook,
                          after_hook=my_after_hook)               

Before-hooks must have the following prototype:

def my_before_hook(hook, params):
    ...

hook is a reference to the corresponding HederaHook, while params is the list of parameters of the current call (as DWORDs).

The prototype for after-hooks is similar:

def my_after_hook(hook, params, retvalue):
    ...

It has an additional argument retvalue, the return value of the hooked function.

After the hook is created, activate it with

hook.set()

HederaHook objects accept the following optional parameters:

• call_conv: the calling convention of the hooked function, can be either pe_hedera.session.CV_STDCALL (default) or pe_hedera.session.CV_CDECL
• do_call: if False prevent the execution of the hooked function (default True)
• override_ret: if True the return value of the after-hook overwrites the one of the hooked function (default False)
• override_params: if True, any modification of the params argument of the before-hook is applied to the hooked function (default True)

handlers.interactive in alternative to the definition of custom before- or after-hooks. It works as a simplified version of a command-line debugger.

Accepted command argument formats:
 - base 10 integer, e.g. 1234
 - base 16 integer with 0x, e.g. 0xdeadbeef
 - param id with $ followed by param number, e.g. $0

Available commands:
 - readmem <address> <size>: read memory from the target process and print its hexdump
 - writemem <address> <data>: write data in the memory of the target process,
                              <data> has the following formats
                              - string between double-quotes (null byte is automatically appended)
                              - hex rappresentation, e.g. 13f860bd for the buffer \x13\xf8\x60\xbd
 - setparam $param_num <value>: ovverride the value of a parmeter (only if override_params is true)
 - continue: resume execution
 - stop: terminate the target process and exit