0xdea-ghidra-scripts/Rhabdomancer.java

/*
 * Rhabdomancer.java - A Ghidra vulnerability research assistant
 * Copyright (c) 2021-2026 Marco Ivaldi <raptor@0xdeadbeef.info>
 *
 * "For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of
 * the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the
 * teraphim; he looks at the liver." -- Ezekiel 21:21
 *
 * Rhabdomancer is a simple Ghidra script to assist with vulnerability research
 * tasks based on a candidate point strategy, against closed source software
 * written in C/C++. It locates all calls to potentially insecure functions
 * (the candidate points), which have been classified in 3 different tiers of
 * decreasing badness, from 0 to 2. The auditor can then backtrace from these
 * candidate points to find pathways allowing access from untrusted input. 
 *
 * Candidate point strategies are among the fastest ways of identifying the
 * most common classes of vulnerabilities. Of course, without a strong
 * understanding of the code it's hard or impossible to find vulnerabilities
 * other than the proverbial low-hanging fruits. For additional code auditing
 * strategies and a comprehensive guide to software security assessment, I
 * recommend reading "The art of software security assessment", by M. Dowd, J.
 * McDonald, and J. Schuh (Addison Wesley, 2006).
 *
 * Usage:
 * - Auto analyze your target binary with the default analyzers (at least)
 * - Copy the script into your ghidra_scripts directory
 * - Open the Script Manager in Ghidra and run the script
 * - You can also run it via the Tools > Rhabdomancer menu or the shortcut "Y"
 * - Open Window > Comments and navigate [BAD] candidate points in tier 0-2
 *
 * Inspired by The Ghidra Book (No Starch, 2020). Tested with Ghidra v12.0.2.
 */

// This script locates all calls to potentially insecure functions, in order to
// speed up static analysis for vulnerability research purposes.
// @author Marco Ivaldi <raptor@0xdeadbeef.info>
// @category VulnDev
// @keybinding Y
// @menupath Tools.Rhabdomancer
// @toolbar 

import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
import java.util.Iterator;

import ghidra.app.script.GhidraScript;
import ghidra.program.model.symbol.*;
import ghidra.program.model.listing.*;
import ghidra.program.model.address.*;

public class Rhabdomancer extends GhidraScript 
{
	@Override
	public void run() throws Exception
	{
		// these functions are generally considered insecure
		// see also https://github.com/x509cert/banned/blob/master/banned.h
		List<String> tier0 = new ArrayList<>(List.of(
			// strcpy family
    		"strcpy", "_strcpy", "strcpyA", "strcpyW", "wcscpy", "_wcscpy", "_tcscpy", "_mbscpy",
			"StrCpy", "StrCpyA", "StrCpyW", 
			"lstrcpy", "lstrcpyA", "lstrcpyW", "_tccpy", "_mbccpy", "_ftcscpy",
			"stpcpy", "wcpcpy",
		    "strccpy", "strecpy", "strcadd", "streadd", "strtrns",
			// strcat family
			"strcat", "_strcat", "strcatA", "strcatW", "wcscat", "_wcscat", "_tcscat", "_mbscat",
			"StrCat", "StrCatA", "StrCatW", 
			"lstrcat", "_lstrcat", "lstrcatA", "_lstrcatA", "lstrcatW", "_lstrcatW", 
			"StrCatBuff", "StrCatBuffA", "StrCatBuffW", "StrCatChainW", 
			"_tccat", "_mbccat", "_ftcscat",
			// sprintf family
			"sprintf", "_sprintf", "_sprintf_c89", 
			"vsprintf", "_vsprintf", "_vsprintf_c89", 
			"_wsprintfA", "_wsprintfW", "sprintfW", "sprintfA", 
			"wsprintf", "_wsprintf", "wsprintfW", "_wsprintfW", "wsprintfA", "_wsprintfA",
			"_stprintf", "wvsprintf", "wvsprintfA", "wvsprintfW", "_vstprintf",
			// scanf family
    		"scanf", "_scanf", "__isoc99_scanf", "wscanf", "_tscanf",
    		"sscanf", "_sscanf", "__isoc99_sscanf", "_sscanf_c89", "swscanf", "_stscanf",
    		"fscanf", "_fscanf", "__isoc99_fscanf", "fwscanf",
    		"vscanf", "_vscanf", "__isoc99_vscanf", "vwscanf", "_vwscanf",
    		"vfscanf", "_vfscanf", "__isoc99_vfscanf", "vfwscanf", "_vfwscanf",
    		"vsscanf", "_vsscanf", "__isoc99_vsscanf", "vswscanf", "_vswscanf",
    		"snscanf", "_snscanf", "snwscanf", "_snwscanf", "_sntscanf",
			// gets family
			"gets", "_gets", "_getts", "_getws", "_gettws", "getpw", "getpass", "getc", "getchar",
			// insecure memory allocation on the stack, can also cause stack clash
			"alloca", "_alloca",
			// command execution via shell
			"system", "_system", "popen", "_popen", "wpopen", "_wpopen", "p2open", "wordexp",
			// insecure temporary file creation
			"mktemp", "tmpnam", "tempnam", "tmpnam_r",
			// time family
    		"cftime", "ascftime",
			// utmp family
    		"utmpname", "utmpxname",
			// insecure pseudo-random number generators
			"rand", "rand_r", "srand",
			"drand48", "erand48", "lrand48", "nrand48", "mrand48", "jrand48", "lcong48", "srand48", "seed48"
		));

		// these functions are interesting and should be checked for insecure use cases
		List<String> tier1 = new ArrayList<>(List.of(
			// strncpy needs explicit null-termination: buf[sizeof(buf) – 1] = '\0'
			"strncpy", "_strncpy", "wcsncpy", "_tcsncpy", "_mbsncpy", "_mbsnbcpy",
			"StrCpyN", "StrCpyNA", "StrCpyNW", "StrNCpy", "strcpynA", "StrNCpyA", "StrNCpyW", 
			"lstrcpyn", "lstrcpynA", "lstrcpynW", "_csncpy", "wcscpyn",
			"stpncpy", "wcpncpy",
			// strncat must be called with: sizeof(buf) - strlen(buf) - 1 to prevent off-by-one bugs (beware of underflow)
			"strncat", "_strncat", "wcsncat", "_tcsncat", "_mbsncat", "_mbsnbcat", 
			"StrCatN", "StrCatNA", "StrCatNW", "StrNCat", "StrNCatA", "StrNCatW", 
			"lstrncat", "lstrcatnA", "lstrcatnW", "lstrcatn",
			// strlcpy returns strlen(src), which can be larger than the dst buffer
			"strlcpy", "wcslcpy", "_mbslcpy",
			// strlcat returns strlen(src) + strlen(dst), which can be larger than the dst buffer
			"strlcat", "wcslcat", "_mbslcat",
			// strlen can be dangerous with short integers (and potentially also with signed int)
			"strlen", "lstrlen", "strnlen", "wcslen", "wcsnlen", "_mbslen", "_mbstrlen", "_mbsnlen", "_mbstrnlen",
			// string token functions can be dangerous as well
			"strtok", "_tcstok", "wcstok", "_mbstok",
			"strfind", "strrspn", "strtrns",
			// snprintf returns strlen(src), which can be larger than the dst buffer
			"snprintf", "_sntprintf", "_snprintf", "_snprintf_c89", "_snwprintf", 
			"vsnprintf", "_vsnprintf", "_vsnprintf_c89",
			"vsnwprintf", "_vsnwprintf", "wnsprintf", "wnsprintfA", "wnsprintfW", "_vsntprintf", 
			"wvnsprintf", "wvnsprintfA", "wvnsprintfW",
			"swprintf", "_swprintf", "vswprintf", "_vswprintf",
			// memory copying functions can be used insecurely, check if size arg can contain negative numbers
			"memcpy", "_memcpy", "memccpy", "mempcpy", "memmove", "_memmove", "bcopy", "memset",
			"wmemcpy", "_wmemcpy", "wmempcpy", "wmemmove", "_wmemmove", "RtlCopyMemory", "CopyMemory",
			"memcpy_s", "wmemcpy_s", "memmove_s", "wmemmove_s", "memset_s", "memset_explicit",
			// user id and group id functions can be used insecurely, return value must be checked
			"setuid", "seteuid", "setreuid", "setresuid",
			"setgid", "setegid", "setregid", "setresgid", "setgroups", "initgroups",
			// exec* and related functions can be used insecurely
			// functions without "-e" suffix take the environment from the extern variable environ of calling process
			"execl", "execlp", "execle", "execv", "execve", "execvp", "execvpe",
			"_execl", "_execlp", "_execle", "_execv", "_execve", "_execvp", "_execvpe", "execvP",
			"fork", "vfork", "clone", "pipe",
			"posix_spawn", "posix_spawnp", "spawn", "spawnv", "_spawnv", "wspawnv", "_wspawnv",
			"WinExec", "ShellExecute", "ShellExecuteA", "ShellExecuteExA", "ShellExecuteW", "ShellExecuteExW",
    		"CreateProcess", "CreateProcessA", "CreateProcessW", "CreateProcessAsUserA", "CreateProcessAsUserW",
    		"CreateProcessWithLogon", "CreateProcessWithLogonW", "CreateProcessWithToken", "CreateProcessWithTokenW",
			// i/o functions can be used insecurely
			"open", "open64", "openat", "openat64", "fopen", "fopen64", "freopen", "freopen64", "dlopen", "connect",
			"copylist", "dbm_open", "dbminit",
			"read", "fread", // check read from unreadable paths/files and from writable paths/files
			"write", "fwrite", // check write to unwritable paths/files
			"recv", "recvfrom", // check for null-termination
			"fgets", "fgetws",
		    "LoadLibrary", "LoadLibraryA", "LoadLibraryExA", "LoadLibraryW", "LoadLibraryExW",
			// kernel copy functions can be used insecurely and cause infoleaks or buffer overflows
			"copy_from_user", "copy_to_user", "get_user", "put_user", "copyin", "copyout"
		));

		// code paths involving these functions should be carefully checked
		List<String> tier2 = new ArrayList<>(List.of(
			// check for insecure use of environment vars
			"getenv", "setenv", "putenv", "unsetenv", "g_get_home_dir", "g_get_tmp_dir",
			// check for insecure use of conf strings
			"confstr", "getlogin", "getlogin_r", "getgroups", "gethostname", "getdomainname", "cuserid",
			// check for insecure use of arguments
			"getopt", "getopt_long",
			// check for insecure use of memory allocation functions
			// check if size arg can contain negative numbers or zero, return value must be checked
			"malloc", "xmalloc",
			"calloc", // potential implicit overflow due to integer wrapping
			"realloc", "xrealloc", "reallocf", // doesn't initialize memory to zero; realloc(0) is equivalent to free
			"valloc", "pvalloc", "memalign", "aligned_alloc", "vzalloc",
			"kmalloc", "kmalloc_array", "kcalloc", "kzalloc", "mallocarray",
			"free", "_free", "kfree", // check for incorrect use, double free, use after free
			// check for file access bugs
			"mkdir", "mkdirat", "mknod", "mknodat", "chdir", "creat", "truncate",
			"link", "linkat", "symlink", "symlinkat", "readlink", "readlinkat", "unlink", "unlinkat", "realpath", "PathAppend",
			"rename", "renameat",
			"stat", "lstat", "fstat", "fstatat",
			"chown", "lchown", "fchown", "fchownat",
			"chmod", "fchmod", "fchmodat",
			"access", "faccessat", "faccessat2", "access_ok",
			"getwd", "getcwd", "chroot",
			"ttyname_r", "ptsname_r",
			"fmemopen", "fattach",
			"ftw", "nftw",
    		"umask", "ulimit",
		    "AddAccessAllowedAce",
			// check for temporary file bugs
			"mkstemp", "mkstemp64", "tmpfile", "mkdtemp",
			"GetTempFileName", "GetTempFileNameA", "GetTempFileNameW",
			// check for makepath and splitpath bugs
			"makepath", "_tmakepath", "_makepath", "_wmakepath", 
			"_splitpath", "_tsplitpath", "_wsplitpath",
			// check for format string bugs
			"syslog", "NSLog",
			"printf", "fprintf", "wprintf", "fwprintf", "asprintf", "dprintf", "printk",
			"vprintf", "vfprintf", "vasprintf", "vdprintf", "vfwprintf", 
			"vcprintf", "vcwprintf", "vscprintf", "vscwprintf", "vwprintf",
			"_printf", "_fprintf", "_wprintf", "_fwprintf", "_asprintf", "_dprintf", "_printk",
			"_vprintf", "_vfprintf", "_vasprintf", "_vdprintf", "_vfwprintf", 
			"_vcprintf", "_vcwprintf", "_vscprintf", "_vscwprintf", "_vwprintf",
			"_printf_c89", "_fprintf_c89",
			"err", "errx", "errc", "warn", "warnx", "warnc", "verr", "verrx", "verrc", "vwarn", "vwarnx", "vwarnc",
			// check for internet address manipulation bugs
    		"inet_ntop", "inet_pton",
			// check for string conversion bugs
    		"mbstowcs", "mbsrtowcs", "mbsnrtowcs", "wcstombs", "wcsrtombs", "wcsnrtombs", "OemToCharW", "MultiByteToWideChar",
			// check for locale bugs
			"setlocale", "catopen",
			// check kernel driver functions and ioctl
    		"cdev_init"
			// kill, signal/sigaction, *setjmp/*longjmp functions should be checked for signal-handling vulnerabilities
			// *sem*, *mutex* functions should be checked for other concurrency-related vulnerabilities
			// new, new []: potential implicit overflow with scalar constructor
			// delete, delete []: check for misalignment with constructor 
			// integer bugs should be also taken into account as they are more subtle and widespread
		));

		// function list
		List<Function> funcs = new ArrayList<>();

		printf("\nRhabdomancer.java - A Ghidra vulnerability research assistant\n");
		printf("Copyright (c) 2021-2026 Marco Ivaldi <raptor@0xdeadbeef.info>\n\n");
		printf("Listing calls to potentially insecure functions...\n");

		// populate tier map
		// TODO: add `[._]?` prefix to all known bad API functions to catch more uses
		Map<String, List<String>> bad = new LinkedHashMap<>();
		bad.put("[BAD 0]", tier0);
		bad.put("[BAD 1]", tier1);
		bad.put("[BAD 2]", tier2);

		// enumerate candidate points at each tier
		Iterator<Map.Entry<String, List<String>>> i = bad.entrySet().iterator();
		while (i.hasNext()) {
			funcs.clear();
			Map.Entry<String, List<String>> entry = i.next();
			printf("\n%s\n\n", entry.getKey());
			entry.getValue().forEach(s -> getFunctions(s, funcs));
			funcs.forEach(f -> listCalls(f, entry.getKey() + " " + f.getName()));
		}
	}

	// collect Function objects associated with the specified name
	// @param name function name
	// @param list list to add collected Function objects to
	public void getFunctions(String name, List<Function> list) 
	{
		SymbolTable st = currentProgram.getSymbolTable();
		SymbolIterator si = st.getSymbolIterator();

		while (si.hasNext()) {
			Symbol s = si.next();
			if ((s.getSymbolType() == SymbolType.FUNCTION) && (!s.isExternal()) && (s.getName().equals(name))) {
				list.add(getFunctionAt(s.getAddress()));
			}
		}
	}

	// process cross-references to a function and list calls
	// @param dstFunc destination function
	// @param tag comment tag
	public void listCalls(Function dstFunc, String tag) 
	{
		String dstName = dstFunc.getName();
		Address dstAddr = dstFunc.getEntryPoint();
		Reference[] refs = getReferencesTo(dstAddr); // limited to 4096 records

		printf("%s is called from:\n", dstName);

		for (int i = 0; i < refs.length; i++) {

			if (refs[i].getReferenceType().isCall()) {
				Address callAddr = refs[i].getFromAddress();
				Function srcFunc = getFunctionContaining(callAddr);

				if ((srcFunc != null) && (!srcFunc.isThunk())) {
					// print call address and caller function
					String srcName = srcFunc.getName();
					long offset = callAddr.getOffset();
					printf("\t0x%x in %s\n", offset, srcName);

					// add pre comment tag at candidate point location
					Listing listing = currentProgram.getListing();
					CodeUnit codeUnit = listing.getCodeUnitAt(callAddr);
					String cur = codeUnit.getComment(CodeUnit.PRE_COMMENT);
					if (cur == null) {
						codeUnit.setComment(CodeUnit.PRE_COMMENT, tag);
					} else {
						if (!cur.startsWith("[BAD ")) {
							codeUnit.setComment(CodeUnit.PRE_COMMENT, tag + "\n" + cur);
						}
					}
					if (getBookmarks(callAddr).length == 0) {
						createBookmark(callAddr, "Insecure function - " + tag, dstName + " is called");
					}
				}
			}
		}
	}
}