Deep inside the COM: Reading Windows ROT Without Asking Permission. Detective story

Short summary

Reverse-engineering Windows ROT (Running Object Table) by reading rpcss memory without public APIs or symbols. Phase-by-phase walkthrough: Ghidra analysis reveals the schema; behavioral pattern scoring identifies the correct process by scanning 2048 functions for mutex, counter, and hash table access signatures. Key insight: behavioral patterns survive Windows updates; hardcoded addresses don't.

• •Ghidra-based structure discovery identifies CScmRot and CScmRotEntry internals including the 'crot' magic signature
• •Behavioral pattern scoring finds ROT without symbols by detecting mutex, counter, and hash table access patterns across processes
• •Overcomes process enumeration challenges by validating pointers across multiple rpcss instances

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.