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Kernel-mode rootkits run with the highest operating system privileges by adding code or replacing portions of the core operating system, including both the kernel and associated device drivers. [citation needed] Most operating systems support kernel-mode device drivers, which execute with the same privileges as the operating system itself.
Detecting rootkits is separated into many complex layers that include integrity checking and behavioral detection. By checking the CPU usage, ongoing and outgoing network traffic, or the signatures of drivers, simple anti-virus tools can detect common rootkits. However, this is not the case with a kernel type rootkit.
These routines can be either used to hide the presence of software or to act as a backdoor to allow attackers permanent code execution with kernel privileges. For both reasons, hooking SSDT calls is often used as a technique in both Windows kernel mode rootkits and antivirus software. [1] [2]
Salt Typhoon reportedly employs a Windows kernel-mode rootkit, Demodex (name given by Kaspersky Lab [8]) to gain remote control [9] over their targeted servers. [1] They demonstrate a high level of sophistication and use anti-forensic and anti-analysis techniques to evade detection.
The unrestricted mode is often called kernel mode, but many other designations exist (master mode, supervisor mode, privileged mode, etc.).Restricted modes are usually referred to as user modes, but are also known by many other names (slave mode, problem state, etc.).
Rootkits are notoriously used by the black hat hacking community. A rootkit allows an attacker to subvert a compromised system. This subversion can take place at the application level, as is the case for the early rootkits that replaced a set of common administrative tools, but can be more dangerous when it occurs at the kernel level.
The arrow represents a rootkit gaining access to the kernel, and the little gate represents normal privilege elevation, where the user has to enter an Administrator username and password. Privilege escalation is the act of exploiting a bug , a design flaw , or a configuration oversight in an operating system or software application to gain ...
It was designed by Joanna Rutkowska and originally demonstrated at the Black Hat Briefings on August 3, 2006, with a reference implementation for the Microsoft Windows Vista kernel. The name is a reference to the red pill and blue pill concept from the 1999 film The Matrix .