hardware · August 19, 2012 14:04 · Bigtalljosh · Feb 26, 2016 · T3rm1 · Mar 13, 2022
diff --git a/gistfile1.txt b/gistfile1.txt
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 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@					Reversing Steam CEG Protection		   		 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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 Best viewed with notepad++

 JUN 2012




 Hallo to all readers out there. It has been a long time since I wrote a paper on
 reverse engineering. But I couldn't hold myself with Valve's baby.

 I want to make myself Clear. This paper does not intend to make any harm to Valve or any other
 S/W house that uses this Tech. I will fully disclose the CEG protection and the way I worked
 to reverse engineer it and bypass it. By using this information you will be able to defeat
 CEG in a generic way but not bypass User/Game authentication on Steam. Use the information at
 your own risk. I do not take any responsibility if the knowledge here is used for actions
 that are considered illegal on any part of the world.

 So, what is CEG? CEG stands for Custom Executable Generation and is part of Steam DRM. The CEG
 is applied on binary files (DLLs, EXEs etc.). It "Binds" the game with the computer on which it
 runs. So, even if somebody defeates the typical User/Game authentication, by moving the
 game to another pc and run it, it won't make the game run. Let me give you an example with 
 an Authenticated user. Imagine that I am an authenticated user on Steam and I have bought
 Game-1. I have installed Game-1 on PC-1. I now decide to copy the game to another PC, let
 us say PC-2. So, I backup the game using Backup option in Steam Client on PC-1 and I Restore
 it on PC-2. If I run the game on PC-2, dispite the fact that I am an authenticated user
 for this game the game will not run on PC-2. This is because protection "Understands" that the
 protected file/files are trying to run on a different PC. The game should connect on 
 Steam servers, servers will ask and get some information from PC-2 and a new version of the
 binary/binaries that are protected with CEG will be created. Eventually, the binary files
 will be replaced with new ones and after that, the game will run.

 A full Steam DRM crack requires User/Game authentication bypass and CEG bypass. As I said 
 earlier, I will not give out information regarding User/Game authentication bypass. But you 
 can still check that CEG has been bypassed if you Restore the legit game to another PC, 
 login to Steam and change to Offline mode. Now Steam Client will not be able to overwrite the 
 CEG protected binary/binaries (because it is in Offline mode) and game will not run due
 to CEG protection. By using the information in this paper you will be able to make it run.

 The game I tested was FEAR3 in Windows XP SP3 machine. I used Olly debugger and Process Monitor.
 I also used Protection ID tool to find out what files of the game are CEG protected (althought I
 do not care because the way of bypassing CEG as you will later see is a more generic one). 
 The Protection ID tool showed me that file "F.E.A.R. 3.exe" is CEG protected. This is the 
 Main executable of the game.

 I first created a VM box using VMware Player. So, the VM is on the Physical machine. I then Backed 
 up the game from the physical machine and I Restored it inside the VM. I logged into Steam and
 changed the mode to Offline. Now I want to make the game run, but not from the Steam Client. I need
 the game to run by running the main executable (F.E.A.R. 3.exe) in order to be able to debug it.
 For doing this, I had to create a file inside the folder where the Main executable of the game exists.

 In my case the Folder is:

 C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\f.e.a.r. 3

 The file you need to create is called "steam_appid.txt" and contains a number. This number is
 the Application ID of the game. You can find the Application ID of any game just by searching
 on Steam site. You do that. In my case and for that particular game the contents of the file is
 5 bytes long:

 21100

 But how did I find out that I should create this file with this content? After debugging a little
 I came accross the function SteamAPI_RestartAppIfNecessary(). I searched over the Internet
 and here is the information I found:

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Detects if your executable was launched through the Steam client, and restarts your game through 
 // the client if necessary. The Steam client will be started if it is not running.
 //
 // Returns: true if your executable was NOT launched through the Steam client. This function will
 //          then start your application through the client. Your current process should exit.
 //
 //          false if your executable was started through the Steam client or a steam_appid.txt file
 //          is present in your game's directory (for development). Your current process should continue.
 //
 // NOTE: This function should be used only if you are using CEG or not using Steam's DRM. Once applied
 //       to your executable, Steam's DRM will handle restarting through Steam if necessary.

 S_API bool STEAM_CALL SteamAPI_RestartAppIfNecessary( uint32 unOwnAppID );
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



 After running the game executable (F.E.A.R. 3.exe) , the game Terminates. So, what i did was to fire up 
 Process Monitor and see what happens to the application when it Terminates. The Log file revealed some useful
 information (I have "shrink" the output a little in order to save some space):

 12:01:49,0038683 pµ	F.E.A.R. 3.exe	2164	CreateFile	C:\WINDOWS\system32\1025	IS DIRECTORY...
 12:01:49,0040101 pµ	F.E.A.R. 3.exe	2164	CreateFile	C:\WINDOWS\system32\1025	SUCCESS	Desired...
 12:01:49,0041236 pµ	F.E.A.R. 3.exe	2164	QueryInformationVolume	C:\WINDOWS\system32\1025	SUCCESS...
 12:01:49,0042262 pµ	F.E.A.R. 3.exe	2164	QueryAllInformationFile	C:\WINDOWS\system32\1025	...
 12:01:49,0043198 pµ	F.E.A.R. 3.exe	2164	CloseFile	C:\WINDOWS\system32\1025	SUCCESS	
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 3524
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 364
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 4000
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 3304
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 136
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 372
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 252
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 216
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 392
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 380
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 1184
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 268
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 3992
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 3904
 											Thread Exit		SUCCESS	Thread ID: 388

 											
 											
 What I observe here is the following:
 
 1) The application checks if a folder exists. This is done using the CreateFile API.

 2) If Folder exists the application uses QueryInformationVolume/QueryAllInformationFile APIs
   in order to collect information regarding the folder.

 3) The information that QueryInformationVolume/QueryAllInformationFile APIs return is not what
   CEG protection expects to be. Application starts terminating Threads.

 4) The Process terminates.


 There may also be the case that a Folder may not even exist. As a result, Threads will start terminate
 just after the call to CreateFile API.




 I wanted to see what happens in a lower level. I run the game under Olly debugger, place breakpoint at
 CreateFile API and break on the ASM code. The thing is that CEG protection uses many Anti-Debug tricks.
 In order to bypass those Tricks I used a plugin. I didn't have time to study those anti-X Shit. 
 I used Olly Advanced Plugin and turned the following options on:

 a) UnhandledExceptionFilter
 b) Process32Next


 I finally managed to break into the following place inside ASM code, check my comments next to ASM code :

 00F2D80F  |. 8B1D 18013F01  MOV EBX,DWORD PTR DS:[<&KERNEL32.CreateFileW>]    
 00F2D80A   E8 51B86EFF      CALL F_E_A_R_.00619060
 00F2D80F   8B1D 18013F01    MOV EBX,DWORD PTR DS:[<&KERNEL32.CreateFileW>]   ---> First call to CreateFile API as shown                    
 00F2D815   6A FF            PUSH -1												  in Process Monitor.
 00F2D817   57               PUSH EDI
 00F2D818   6A 03            PUSH 3
 00F2D81A   57               PUSH EDI
 00F2D81B   6A 07            PUSH 7
 00F2D81D   68 00000080      PUSH 80000000
 00F2D822   56               PUSH ESI
 00F2D823   FFD3             CALL EBX
 00F2D825   8BF8             MOV EDI,EAX
 00F2D827   83FF FF          CMP EDI,-1
 00F2D82A   75 16            JNZ SHORT F_E_A_R_.00F2D842 
 00F2D82C   50               PUSH EAX
 00F2D82D   68 00000002      PUSH 2000000
 00F2D832   6A 03            PUSH 3
 00F2D834   6A 00            PUSH 0
 00F2D836   6A 07            PUSH 7
 00F2D838   68 00000080      PUSH 80000000
 00F2D83D   56               PUSH ESI
 00F2D83E   FFD3             CALL EBX                                          ---> Second call to CreateFile API as shown
 00F2D840   8BF8             MOV EDI,EAX											   in Process Monitor.
 00F2D842   837D EC 00       CMP DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-14],0
 00F2D846   5B               POP EBX
 00F2D847   74 16            JE SHORT F_E_A_R_.00F2D85F  
 00F2D85F   83FF FF          CMP EDI,-1
 00F2D862   74 64            JE SHORT F_E_A_R_.00F2D8C8 
 00F2D864   8D55 AC          LEA EDX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-54]
 00F2D867   52               PUSH EDX
 00F2D868   57               PUSH EDI
 00F2D869   FF15 14013F01    CALL DWORD PTR DS:[<&KERNEL32.GetFileInformationByHandle>]  ---->  Inside the call to GetFileInformationByHandle API exist
 00F2D86F   85C0             TEST EAX,EAX												---->  the calls to the 2 APIs -QueryInformationVolume, QueryAllInformationFile-
 00F2D871   74 4E            JE SHORT F_E_A_R_.00F2D8C1 									---->  as shown in Process Monitor.
 00F2D873   8D8D E4FEFFFF    LEA ECX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-11C]
 00F2D879   E8 D20C9DFF      CALL F_E_A_R_.008FE550        
 00F2D87E   8B4D D8          MOV ECX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-28]							    
 00F2D881   8B45 DC          MOV EAX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-24]
 00F2D884   6A 08            PUSH 8
 00F2D886   8D55 E0          LEA EDX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-20]
 00F2D889   894D E4          MOV DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-1C],ECX
 00F2D88C   52               PUSH EDX
 00F2D88D   8D8D E4FEFFFF    LEA ECX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-11C]
 00F2D893   8945 E0          MOV DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-20],EAX
 00F2D896   E8 1582CEFF      CALL F_E_A_R_.00C15AB0
 00F2D89B   8D8D E4FEFFFF    LEA ECX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-11C]
 00F2D8A1   E8 2AE37EFF      CALL F_E_A_R_.0071BBD0
 00F2D8A6   68 FC0C4701      PUSH F_E_A_R_.01470CFC
 00F2D8AB   8D4D 98          LEA ECX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-68]
 00F2D8AE   E8 CDE9D1FF      CALL F_E_A_R_.00C4C280
 00F2D8B3   8D8D E4FEFFFF    LEA ECX,DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-11C]
 00F2D8B9   8845 FF          MOV BYTE PTR SS:[EBP-1],AL
 00F2D8BC   E8 CF0572FF      CALL F_E_A_R_.0064DE90
 00F2D8C1   57               PUSH EDI
 00F2D8C2   FF15 68003F01    CALL DWORD PTR DS:[<&KERNEL32.CloseHandle>]    ------> Call to CloseFile as shown in Process Monitor.




 The basic thing here is that there are 2 APIs been called (as shown in Process Monitor -QueryInformationVolume and
 QueryAllInformationFile-) inside GetFileInformationByHandle. But we do not care. We need to
 see it from an abstract level, from GetFileInformationByHandle API. So what does this API do?




 Here is the definition from MSDN:

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 BOOL WINAPI GetFileInformationByHandle(
  __in   HANDLE hFile,
  __out  LPBY_HANDLE_FILE_INFORMATION lpFileInformation
 );

 Retrieves file information for the specified file.

 Parameters
 hFile [in]
 A handle to the file that contains the information to be retrieved.
 This handle should not be a pipe handle.

 lpFileInformation [out]
 A pointer to a BY_HANDLE_FILE_INFORMATION structure that receives the file information.

 Return value
 If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero and file information data is contained in the
 buffer pointed to by the lpFileInformation parameter.

 If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




 The interesting part is the lpFileInformation parameter. It contains a pointer to the data returned from
 the file. This data is used from CEG in order to "Bind" the CEG protected binaries with the FileSystem
 on the PC. So, I understand that there is FileSystem emulation that should be done. The data structure
 that is being returned contains 52d bytes. Here is an example of the data that the pointer points to:

 10 00 00 00 F4 BF A8 DC 55 42 CD 01 08 FF 9D 18 
 E3 44 CD 01 F4 BF A8 DC 55 42 CD 01 27 39 D9 60
 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 01 00
 70 00 00 00

 So, I emulated the FileSystem information needed (I will explain later -fully- any emulation, just wait).
 I run the game on the same physical machine but on a different VM. The game runs just fine. After this, I 
 changed the Hard Disk on the physical machine, re-installed everything and run the game in the VM. The
 game terminates. But it does not terminate because of the FileSystem. The reason is that it could not
 find a registry key entry. I took a look in Process Monitor Log for the registry key that didn't exist:

 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8028480D-A20A-4F93-96A3-3BF9EA7FE1E2}

 This key should have the following string value:
 "Steam Service Class"


 So, I searched for all keys in the PC that the game was running fine. In my case, there were 6 entries 
 in registry with the "Steam Service Class" string value. Here are the keys in my case:

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 ;"Steam Service Class" string in CLSIDs
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8028480D-A20A-4F93-96A3-3BF9EA7FE1E2}]

 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E4526A36-75A2-4F2D-A53F-245F584AF2C5}]

 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{5E9DEE15-F185-4EB0-A30E-09BA14CA43B3}]

 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{8028480D-A20A-4F93-96A3-3BF9EA7FE1E2}]

 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E4526A36-75A2-4F2D-A53F-245F584AF2C5}]

 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{5E9DEE15-F185-4EB0-A30E-09BA14CA43B3}]


 After creating the folling keys the game runs just fine. The final test was to run it 
 on a different Physical PC and make sure that CEG does not use H/W "identification"
 for example CPU number, GPU number etc. I run it and the game run just fine.


 So, now I was sure about the following things:

 1) CEG uses FileSystem checks
 2) CEG uses Registry checks.
 3) CEG uses no other check than (1),(2).



 But how can we find all the Folders/Registry entries to Emulate? And what values for structures will we use
 for FileSystem Emulation?


 Here is the beautiful part of this. When Steam servers validate all binary files of the game that are
 protected with CEG and finds that are not valid, it uses the SAME API -GetFileInformationByHandle- in order
 to get new information from the FileSystem. So, the structures that should be emulated are actually READ from
 Steam Client and sent to Steam servers in order to produce the new binary file/files. Those structures
 are stored encryped in 2 sections of the new binary file(s) created:

 .rdata
 .rsrc  

 This is why 2 binary files that were created on different PCs differ only on those sections. The CEG algo
 is inside the code and is the same for the 2 binary files. Only the FileSystem/Registry data changes.

 I will run Steam Client under Debugger and I will place a Breakpoint at GetFileInformationByHandle API. I noticed
 that this API is used only by CEG protection on Steam for creating the new binary file(s). Each time the 
 debugger breaks, I will return the same structure data for ANY file. I choose the data. After the
 update of binary file(s) have finished I have actually forced Steam Client to produce binary file/files that
 think all Files should return the same data structure, which is my data structure. If I now hook the 
 GetFileInformationByHandle API during game runtime and always return my data structure, CEG will think
 that everything is ok. It is fine to replace the GetFileInformationByHandle API with my code since this API is
 only used by CEG. But if you have any problems with later games, you should just change your inline patch a little.

 Here is the Hook I placed under the debugger for the GetFileInformationByHandle API:

 7C810CFD GetFileInformationByHandle           60               PUSHAD						--> save all registers
 7C810CFE                                      9C               PUSHFD						--> save flag register
 7C810CFF                                      8B4424 2C        MOV EAX,DWORD PTR SS:[ESP+2C]--> Now EAX contains the lpFileInformation Pointer
 7C810D03                                      C700 10000000    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],10    --> Next code just enters pre-defined 54d bytes of data
 7C810D09                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D0C                                      C700 0098CAB6    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],B6CA9800
 7C810D12                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D15                                      C700 BC41CD01    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],1CD41BC
 7C810D1B                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D1E                                      C700 1A6711F0    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],F011671A
 7C810D24                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D27                                      C700 3447CD01    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],1CD4734
 7C810D2D                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D30                                      C700 0098CAB6    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],B6CA9800
 7C810D36                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D39                                      C700 BC41CD01    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],1CD41BC
 7C810D3F                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D42                                      C700 0162B380    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],80B36201
 7C810D48                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D4B                                      C700 00000000    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],0
 7C810D51                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D54                                      C700 00000000    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],0
 7C810D5A                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D5D                                      C700 01000000    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],1
 7C810D63                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D66                                      C700 00000100    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],10000             ; UNICODE "=::=::\"
 7C810D6C                                      83C0 04          ADD EAX,4
 7C810D6F                                      C700 40000000    MOV DWORD PTR DS:[EAX],40
 7C810D75                                      9D               POPFD
 7C810D76                                      61               POPAD
 7C810D77                                      90               NOP
 7C810D78                                      C2 0800          RETN 8



 The only thing left is to find out what Folders need to exist on the Disk and what Registry entries need to
 exist in the Registry. This is easy to be found. Before Steam Client updates the Binary/Binaries and applies the
 new structure signature data, make sure you open Process Monitor. When Client starts reading the new
 file structures ProcMon will log calls to QueryInformationVolume and QueryAllInformationFile APIs, just like it does
 when the game starts running. Then it will start searching for the same Folders, as it does when the game runs.
 After the calls to the FileSystem, it will start checking Registry keys with string value "Steam Service Class".
 You should write down all Folder names and Registry key names. After that, you can see TCP communication with
 Steam servers, they are probably creating the new binary files.


 Here are the Registry Keys and Folders in my case:

 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8028480D-A20A-4F93-96A3-3BF9EA7FE1E2}]
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E4526A36-75A2-4F2D-A53F-245F584AF2C5}]
 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{5E9DEE15-F185-4EB0-A30E-09BA14CA43B3}]
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{8028480D-A20A-4F93-96A3-3BF9EA7FE1E2}]
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{E4526A36-75A2-4F2D-A53F-245F584AF2C5}]
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{5E9DEE15-F185-4EB0-A30E-09BA14CA43B3}]

 C:\WINDOWS\Connection Wizard
 C:\Program Files\Steam\Graphics
 C:\WINDOWS\system32\1033
 C:\WINDOWS\Config
 C:\Program Files\Steam\dumps
 C:\WINDOWS\system32\1032
 C:\WINDOWS\assembly
 C:\Program Files\Steam\config
 C:\WINDOWS\system32\1031
 C:\WINDOWS\AppPatch
 C:\Program Files\Steam\bin
 C:\WINDOWS\system32\1028
 C:\WINDOWS\addins
 C:\Program Files\Steam\Backups
 C:\WINDOWS\system32\1025
 C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallXPSEPSCLP$
 C:\Program Files\Steam\appcache
 C:\WINDOWS\system32\mui
 C:\WINDOWS\Fonts


 By following the previous steps, you should be able to bypass CEG protection. You do not care
 how many binary files are been updated, because we Hook in Windows API Level and NOT Application level.
 
 
 
 To sum up, here are the steps:
 
 1) Load Steam Client in debugger and Hook GetFileInformationByHandle API to return your structure. I have
   included an ASM code sample of this Hook earlier in this paper.
 2) Open ProcMon. Let Steam Client to apply CEG in the game (online). Note down Folders/Registry entries that
   CEG needs, from ProcMon Log.
 2) Make sure all necessary Folders exist.
 3) Make sure all necessary Registry keys exist.
 4) Load game in debugger and Hook GetFileInformationByHandle API to return your structure, same structure
   you returned in (1). Since this API is only used for CEG you should not have any problem to overwrite the
   API code. But if you do have problems in later games, you should change my inline patch to something else (eg.
   check what file it is etc.)
   
  Keep in mind that CEG protection continues to run during the game execution and does not only run
 at start of the game. It also checks for Registry/Folders signatures with no specific order/frequency.
 This is why you should follow my approach and hook the signature creation when CEG protection is
 applied on the binaries. Only after that you can be sure that you have all Folder names and Registry entries in
 your "list".
   
     
 	 
 	 
   
   
 > Final Words <

 Valve did a great Job with CEG. I really had a great time looking on this protection. It reminds me of
 the good days where sharing was an art. I am sharing this information with you and I hope you will 
 do the same. Should I receive possitive feedback from you I will continue this paper serries. 
 
 Should I not, I'll stop.
 
 Wish you all a great night out.
 
 																			
 														Push_BirthDay_Ret