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PE Tree

PE Tree is a Python module for viewing Portable Executable (PE) files in a tree-view using pefile and PyQt5. It can also be used with IDA Pro, Ghidra, Volatility, Rekall and minidump to view and dump in-memory PE files, as well as perform import table reconstruction.

Table of contents

1. Features
2. Application
   • Requirements
   • Features
   • Installation
     • Windows
     • Mac/Linux
     • For developers
   • Usage
   • Dark-mode
3. IDAPython
   • Requirements
   • Features
   • Installation
     • Using setuptools
     • Install manually
     • For developers
   • Usage
   • Example
     • Dumping in-memory PE files
4. Rekall
   • Requirements
   • Features
   • Installation
   • Usage
5. Volatility
   • Requirements
   • Features
   • Installation
   • Usage
6. Ghidra
   • Requirements
   • Features
   • Installation
   • Usage
7. Minidump
   • Requirements
   • Features
   • Installation
   • Usage
8. Configuration
   • Overview
   • Options
   • Location
   • 3rd party data sharing
9. Troubleshooting
10. Contributing
    • Developer documentation
11. License

Features

• Standalone application with plugins for:
  • IDA Pro
  • Ghidra
  • Volatility
  • Rekall
  • Minidumps
  • Carving
• Supports Windows, Linux and Mac
• Parsing PE files and memory images from:
  • File-system
  • ZIP archives (including password protected)
  • Windows memory dumps (raw, EWF, vmem etc.)
  • Live Windows memory (using rekall)
  • Windows Minidump
  • IDA Pro database
  • Ghidra database
  • Binary file carving
• Rainbow PE map:
  • Provides a high-level overview of PE structures, size and file location
  • Allows for fast visual overview and comparison of PE samples
• Displays the following PE headers in a tree-view:
  • MZ header
  • DOS stub
  • Rich headers
  • NT/File/Optional headers
  • Data directories
  • Sections
  • Imports
  • Exports
  • Debug information
  • Load config
  • TLS
  • Resources
  • Version information
  • Certificates
  • Overlay
• Extract and save data from:
  • DOS stub
  • Sections
  • Resources
  • Certificates
  • Overlay
  • Export to CyberChef for further manipulation
• Perform VirusTotal searches of:
  • File hashes
  • PDB path
  • Timestamps
  • Section hash/name
  • Import hash/name
  • Export name
  • Resource hash
  • Certificate serial
• Dump loaded PE images from memory:
  • Fix up section pointers and sizes
  • Fix up PE headers:
    • Remove unnecessary data directory pointers
    • Recalculate PE checksum
    • Update entry-point
  • Reconstruct import address and directory tables (IAT/IDT) using several methods:
    1. Use existing IAT/IDT
    2. Rebuild IDT from existing IAT
    3. Rebuild IAT and IDT from disassembly (using IDA Pro, Ghidra or capstone)

Application

The PE Tree standalone application finds portable executables in files, folders and ZIP archives.

Requirements

• Python 3.5+

Features

• Scan files and folders for PE files
• Extract PE files from ZIP archives (including password protected with infected)
• Carve PE files from binary files
• Double-click VA/RVA to disassemble with capstone
• Hex-dump data

Installation

Using pip (recommended)

Install directly from GitHub using a fresh virtual environment and pip:

Windows

> virtualenv env
> env\Scripts\activate
> pip install --upgrade pip
> pip install git+https://github.com/blackberry/pe_tree.git

Mac/Linux

$ python3 -m venv env
$ source ./env/bin/activate
$ pip install --upgrade pip
$ pip install git+https://github.com/blackberry/pe_tree.git

For developers

Git clone the repository and setup for development:

Windows

> git clone https://github.com/blackberry/pe_tree.git
> cd pe_tree
> virtualenv env
> env\Scripts\activate
> pip install -e .

Mac/Linux

$ git clone https://github.com/blackberry/pe_tree.git
$ cd pe_tree
$ python3 -m venv env
$ source ./env/bin/activate
$ pip install -e .

Usage

Run PE Tree and scan for portable executables in files, folders and ZIP archives:

$ pe-tree -h
usage: pe-tree [-h] [filenames [filenames ...]]

PE-Tree

positional arguments:
  filenames   Path(s) to file/folder/zip

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Run PE Tree and attempt to carve portable executable files from a binary file:

$ pe-tree-carve -h
usage: pe-tree-carve [-h] filename

PE-Tree (Carve)

positional arguments:
  filename    Path to file to carve

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Dark-mode

Dark-mode can be enabled by installing QDarkStyle:

$ pip install qdarkstyle

IDAPython

The PE Tree IDAPython plugin finds portable executables in IDA databases.

Requirements

• IDA Pro 7.0+ with Python 2.7
• IDA Pro 7.4+ with Python 2.7 or 3.5+

Features

• Easy navigation of PE file structures
• Double-click on a memory address in PE Tree to view in IDA-view or hex-view
• Search an IDB for in-memory PE images and;
  • Reconstruct imports (IAT + IDT)
  • Dump reconstructed PE files
  • Automatically comment PE file structures in IDB
  • Automatically label IAT offsets in IDB

Installation

To install and run as an IDAPython plugin you can either use setuptools or install manually.

Using setuptools

1. Download pe_tree and install for the global Python interpreter used by IDA:

   $ git clone https://github.com/blackberry/pe_tree.git
   $ cd pe_tree
   $ python setup.py develop --ida
   

2. Copy pe_tree_ida.py to your IDA plugins folder

Install manually

1. Download pe_tree and install requirements for the global Python interpreter used by IDA:

   $ git clone https://github.com/blackberry/pe_tree.git
   $ cd pe_tree
   $ pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Copy pe_tree_ida.py and the contents of ./pe_tree/ to your IDA plugins folder

For developers

To forgo installing as a plugin, and simply run as a script under IDA, first install the pe_tree package requirements for the global Python installation:

$ pip install -r requirements.txt

Then run pe_tree_ida.py under IDA:

File -> Script file... -> pe_tree_ida.py -> Open

IDA plugins folder

Usage

1. Launch IDA Pro and disassemble a PE file (always select Manual Load and Load Resources for best results!)

2. Load the PE Tree plugin:

   Edit -> Plugins -> PE Tree

Example

Dumping in-memory PE files

Below are the basic steps to dump a packed PE file (for example MPRESS or UPX) and reconstruct imports (assuming the image base/entry-point is fairly standard):

1. Launch IDA Pro and disassemble an MPRESS or UPX packed PE file (select Manual Load and Load Resources)

2. Select a debugger (Windows or Bochs) and run until OEP (usually 0x00401000, but not always!)

3. At this point you could take a memory snapshot (saving all segments) and save the IDB for later

4. Ensure IDA has found all code:

   Options -> General -> Analysis -> Reanalyze program

5. Open the PE Tree IDAPython plugin, right-click in the right-hand pane and select:

   Add PE -> Search IDB

   This will scan the IDB for MZ/PE headers and display any modules it finds.

6. Right-click on HEADER-0x00400000 (or appropriate module name) and select Dump...

7. Specify the AddressOfEntryPoint (typically 0x1000, but again, not always!)

8. Ensure Rebuild IDT/IAT is selected

9. Dump!

A new executable will be created using the unpacked section data obtained from memory/IDB, whilst a new section named .pe_tree and containing the rebuilt IAT, hint name table and IDT will be appended to the PE file (much like an .idata section). If the entry-point memory segment has been marked writable during execution (via VirtualProtect for example) then the entry-point section's characteristics will also be marked writable. Finally, the BASERELOC, BOUND_IMPORT and SECURITY data directories are marked null, and the OPTIONAL_HEADER checksum is recalculated (if specified).

Using the above approach it is possible to dump many in-memory PE files that have either been unpacked, injected, reflectively loaded or hollowed etc.

Rekall

The PE Tree Rekall plugin finds portable executables in Windows memory dumps.

Requirements

• Python 3+

Features

• Operates against a Windows memory dump or a live system
• View, dump and reconstruct PE modules from;
  • Active processes and DLLs
  • Loaded kernel-mode drivers

Installation

1. Install Rekall from GitHub.
2. Install PE Tree standalone application (see Installation) under the same virtual environment.

Usage

Run Rekall and view active processes, DLLs and drivers on a live system:

$ rekall --live Memory
[1] Live (Memory) 00:00:00> run -i pe_tree_rekall.py

Alternatively, run Rekall/PE Tree against an existing memory dump:

$rekall -f memory.vmem
[1] memory.vmem 00:00:00> run -i pe_tree_rekall.py

Volatility

The PE Tree Volatility plugin finds portable executables in Windows memory dumps.

Requirements

• Python 3.5+

Features

• Operates against a Windows memory dump
• View, dump and reconstruct PE modules from;
  • Active processes and DLLs
  • Loaded kernel-mode drivers

Installation

1. Install Volatility3 from GitHub.
2. Install PE Tree standalone application (see Installation) under the same virtual environment.

Usage

$ pe-tree-vol -h
usage: pe-tree-vol [-h] filename

PE-Tree (Volatility)

positional arguments:
  filename    Path to memory dump

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Ghidra

The PE Tree Ghidra plugin finds portable executables in Ghidra databases.

Requirements

• Python 3.5+
• Ghidra Bridge

Features

• Easy navigation of PE file structures
• Double-click on a memory address in PE Tree to view in Ghidra disassembly/hex-view
• Reconstruct imports (IAT + IDT)
• Dump reconstructed PE files

Installation

1. Install PE Tree (see Installation)
2. Install Ghidra Bridge

Usage

1. Start the Ghidra Bridge server
2. Run the PE Tree Ghidra plugin

$ pe-tree-ghidra -h
usage: pe-tree-ghidra [-h] [--server SERVER] [--port PORT]

PE-Tree (Ghidra)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help       show this help message and exit
  --server SERVER  Ghidra bridge server IP (default: 127.0.0.1)
  --port PORT      Ghidra bridge server port (default: 4768)

Minidump

The PE Tree Minidump plugin finds portable executables in Windows Minidumps.

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• minidump

Features

• View, dump and reconstruct PE modules from a Windows Minidump (.dmp) file

Installation

1. Install PE Tree (see Installation)
2. Install minidump (pip install minidump)

Usage

$ pe-tree-minidump -h
usage: pe-tree-minidump [-h] filename

PE-Tree (Minidump)

positional arguments:
  filename    Path to .dmp file

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Configuration

Overview

The configuration is stored in an INI file and defaults to the following values:

[config]
debug = False
fonts = Consolas,Monospace,Courier
passwords = ,infected
virustotal_url = https://www.virustotal.com/gui/search
cyberchef_url = https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef

Options

Location

3rd party data sharing

The following information will be shared with 3rd party web-applications (depending on configuration) under the following conditions:

VirusTotal

If the VirusTotal URL is specified in the configuration then metadata such as file hashes, timestamps, etc will be sent to VirusTotal for processing when the user clicks on highlighted links or selects "VirusTotal search" from the right-click context menu.

CyberChef

If the CyberChef URL is present in the configuration then any file data will be base64 encoded and sent to CyberChef for processing when the user selects "CyberChef" from the right-click context menu.

Troubleshooting

AttributeError: module 'pip' has no attribute 'main'

or

PyQt5 fails to install under Linux

Try to upgrade pip to version 20.0+:

$ pip install --upgrade pip

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyQt5.sip'

Try uninstalling and reinstalling PyQt5 as follows:

pip uninstall PyQt5
pip uninstall PyQt5-sip
pip install PyQt5 PyQt5-sip

Missing imports after dumping

Ensure IDA has found and disassembled all code:

Options -> General -> Analysis -> Reanalyze program

After this is completed try to dump/rebuild imports again.

Contributing

Please feel free to contribute! Issues and pull requests are most welcome.

Developer documentation

To build documentation from source using Sphinx:

$ pip install sphinx
$ sphinx-apidoc -o ./doc/source/ .
$ sphinx-build -b html ./doc/source ./doc/build -E

To view the documentation open ./doc/build/index.html in a web-browser.

Authors

Tom Bonner - tombonner - @thomas_bonner

License

PE Tree is distributed under the Apache License. See LICENSE for more information.