How to get information about a Windows executable (.exe) using C++

Question

Hi,

I have to create a software that will scan several directories and extracts information about the executables found.

I need to do two things:

• Determine if a given file is an executable (.exe, .dll, and so on) - Checking the extension is probably not good enough.
• Get the information about this executable (the company name, the product name, and so on).

I never did this before and thus am not aware if there is a Windows API (or lightweight C/C++ library) to do that or if it is even possible. I guess it is, because explorer.exe does it.

Do you guys know anything that could point me in the right direction ?

Thank you very much for your help.

Answer 1

You can verify as much of the PE File Format as you want. If you want to, you can also check for a PE file signature. You can then use the File Version API to retrieve the company name, product name, version numbers, etc.

Answer 2

You may find this CodeProject article which wraps the file version API to be helpful for the second task. To check that a file is executable, you probably want to parse the PE headers.

Answer 3

Not all executables are PE files: for example batch/command files are (in a sense) executable, as are DOS-format executables.

Answer 4

I'd check the MSDN library for more information about file information.

From what I gather, you'd need to use the functions FindFirstFile, and FindNextFile. It returns a File Attribute information to determine if it's a normal file or not. From there you'll probably want to look up functions to extract information from the file.

Answer 5

Check this code and modify according to ur needs....

http://pastebin.com/LYgVEd5u

/*


                    Program to dump the PE,DOS headers and Hex Dump of particular section
                                                                        Sat 03/24/2007
                                                                            by
                                                                    K.Vineel Kumar Reddy
                                                                        In VC++ 6.0


                    ref : http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/firmware/PECOFF.mspx
                    tools used : Hiew



                  BRIEF VIEW OF PE FILE

                .----------------------.
                |                      |
                |    Other stuff not   |
                |    touched in this   |
                |    program           |
                |                      |
                |----------------------|
                |                      |
                | Various Section like |
                |        .....         |
                |        .....         |
        .------>|       .reloc         |
        | .---->|       .idata         |
        | | .-->|       .data          |
        | | | .>|       .text          |
        | | | | |----------------------|
        '-|-|-|-|                      | <--- Each entry in section table have pointer
          '-|-|-|         Section      |      offsets to actual sections
            '-|-|     Header or Table  |
              '-|                      |      ---.----------------.
                |----------------------|-----/   |   PE Optional  |  1) ImageBase
                |                      |         |    Header      |
                |                      |         |                |
                |        NT Headers    |         |----------------|
                |                      |         |     COFF/PE    |  1) NumberOfSections
                |                      |         |   Header Info  |  2) SizeOfOptionalHeader
                |----------------------|-----    |----------------|
                |         UNUSED       |     \   |   PE Signature |
                |----------------------|      ---'----------------'
                |      MS-DOS stub     |
                |----------------------|
                |         UNUSED       |
                |----------------------|
                |     MS-DOS Header    | <-- Here at 0x3c location we have the offset of NT Header
                '----------------------'


Structres related to these exe headers
--------------------------------------
1)   MS-DOS Header   ---> IMAGE_DOS_HEADER
2)   NT Header       ---> IMAGE_NT_HEADERS --->contain 
                                           --->IMAGE_FILE_HEADER dealing with COFF/PE Header
                                           --->IMAGE_OPTIONAL_HEADER dealing with Optional PE Header

3)   Section Table   ---> IMAGE_SECTION_HEADER

Key Points 
----------

  dosHeader = Memory mapped base address
  ntHeader = (IMAGE_NT_HEADER)((DWORD)dosHeader + dosHeader->e_lfanew)
  sectionHeader = (IMAGE_SECTION_HEADER)((DWORD)ntHeader + OFFSET(OptionalHeader) + sizeof(OptionalHeader)) 
  each section = (char *)((DWORD)dosHeader + sectionHeader.PointerToRawData)


                                                                        ASCII ART by
                                                                         Vineel :)

*/









#include<stdio.h> 
#include<windows.h>
#include<time.h>
#include<tchar.h>

void Help()
{
    printf("\nUsage \ntest <path to exe file> [ -h <section> ]\n");
}
void HexDump(char * p ,int size,int secAddress)
{
    int i=1,temp=0;
    wchar_t buf[18];      //Buffer  to store the character dump displayed at the right side 
    printf("\n\n%x: |",secAddress);

    buf[temp]    = ' ' ;  //initial space
    buf[temp+16] = ' ' ;  //final space 
    buf[temp+17] =  0  ;  //End of buf
    temp++;               //temp = 1;
    for( ; i <= size ; i++, p++,temp++)
    {
        buf[temp] = !iswcntrl((*p)&0xff)? (*p)&0xff :'.';
        printf("%-3.2x",(*p)&0xff );

        if(i%16 == 0){    //print the chracter dump to the right    
            _putws(buf);
            if(i+1<=size)printf("%x: ",secAddress+=16);
            temp=0;
        }
        if(i%4==0)printf("|");
    }
    if(i%16!=0){
        buf[temp]=0;
        for(;i%16!=0;i++)
            printf("%-3.2c",' ');
        _putws(buf);
    }
}

main(int argc , char ** argv){

    int i=0;
    HANDLE hMapObject,hFile;            //File Mapping Object
    LPVOID lpBase;                      //Pointer to the base memory of mapped file
    PIMAGE_DOS_HEADER dosHeader;        //Pointer to DOS Header
    PIMAGE_NT_HEADERS ntHeader;         //Pointer to NT Header
    IMAGE_FILE_HEADER header;           //Pointer to image file header of NT Header 
    IMAGE_OPTIONAL_HEADER opHeader;     //Optional Header of PE files present in NT Header structure
    PIMAGE_SECTION_HEADER pSecHeader;   //Section Header or Section Table Header
    if(argc>1){

        //Open the Exe File 
        hFile = CreateFile(argv[1],GENERIC_READ,FILE_SHARE_READ,NULL,OPEN_EXISTING,FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,NULL);
        if(hFile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE){printf("\nERROR : Could not open the file specified\n"); goto info;};

        //Mapping Given EXE file to Memory
        hMapObject = CreateFileMapping(hFile,NULL,PAGE_READONLY,0,0,NULL);
        lpBase = MapViewOfFile(hMapObject,FILE_MAP_READ,0,0,0);

        //Get the DOS Header Base 
        dosHeader = (PIMAGE_DOS_HEADER)lpBase;// 0x04000000

        //Check for Valid DOS file
        if(dosHeader->e_magic == IMAGE_DOS_SIGNATURE){
            //Dump the Dos Header info
            printf("\nValid Dos Exe File\n------------------\n");
            printf("\nDumping DOS Header Info....\n---------------------------");
            printf("\n%-36s%s ","Magic number : ",dosHeader->e_magic==0x5a4d?"MZ(Mark Zbikowski)":"-");
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Bytes on last page of file :",dosHeader->e_cblp);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Pages in file : ",dosHeader->e_cp);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Relocation : ",dosHeader->e_crlc);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Size of header in paragraphs : ",dosHeader->e_cparhdr);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Minimum extra paragraphs needed : ",dosHeader->e_minalloc);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Maximum extra paragraphs needed : ",dosHeader->e_maxalloc);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Initial (relative) SS value : ",dosHeader->e_ss);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Initial SP value : ",dosHeader->e_sp);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Checksum : ",dosHeader->e_csum);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Initial IP value : ",dosHeader->e_ip);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Initial (relative) CS value : ",dosHeader->e_cs);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","File address of relocation table : ",dosHeader->e_lfarlc);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Overlay number : ",dosHeader->e_ovno);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","OEM identifier : ",dosHeader->e_oemid);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","OEM information(e_oemid specific) :",dosHeader->e_oeminfo);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","RVA address of PE header : ",dosHeader->e_lfanew);
            printf("\n===============================================================================\n");
        }
        else {
            printf("\nGiven File is not a valid DOS file\n");
            goto end;
        }

        //Offset of NT Header is found at 0x3c location in DOS header specified by e_lfanew
        //Get the Base of NT Header(PE Header)  = dosHeader + RVA address of PE header
        ntHeader = (PIMAGE_NT_HEADERS)((DWORD)(dosHeader) + (dosHeader->e_lfanew));
        //Identify for valid PE file  
        if(ntHeader->Signature == IMAGE_NT_SIGNATURE){
            printf("\nValid PE file \n-------------\n");

            //Dump NT Header Info....
            printf("\nDumping COFF/PE Header Info....\n--------------------------------");
            printf("\n%-36s%s","Signature :","PE");


            //Get the IMAGE FILE HEADER Structure
            header = ntHeader->FileHeader;

            //Determine Machine Architechture
            printf("\n%-36s","Machine Architechture :");
            switch(header.Machine){ //Only few are determined (for remaining refer to the above specification)
            case 0x0:    printf("All "); break;
            case 0x14d:  printf("Intel i860"); break;
            case 0x14c:  printf("Intel i386,i486,i586"); break;
            case 0x200:  printf("Intel Itanium processor"); break;
            case 0x8664: printf("AMD x64"); break;
            case 0x162:  printf("MIPS R3000"); break;
            case 0x166:  printf("MIPS R4000"); break;
            case 0x183:  printf("DEC Alpha AXP"); break;
            default:     printf("Not Found"); break;
            }
            //Determine the characteristics of the given file
            printf("\n%-36s","Characteristics : ");
            if((header.Characteristics&0x0002) == 0x0002) printf("Executable Image ,");
            if((header.Characteristics&0x0020) == 0x0020) printf("Application can address > 2GB ,");
            if((header.Characteristics&0x1000) == 0x1000) printf("System file (Kernel Mode Driver(I think)) ,");
            if((header.Characteristics&0x2000) == 0x2000) printf("Dll file ,");
            if((header.Characteristics&0x4000) == 0x4000) printf("Application runs only in Uniprocessor ,");


            printf("\n%-36s%s","Time Stamp :",ctime(&(header.TimeDateStamp)));          //Determine Time Stamp
            printf("%-36s%d","No.sections(size) :",header.NumberOfSections);            //Determine number of sections
            printf("\n%-36s%d","No.entries in symbol table :",header.NumberOfSymbols);
            printf("\n%-36s%d","Size of optional header :",header.SizeOfOptionalHeader);

            printf("\n\nDumping PE Optional Header Info....\n-----------------------------------");
            //Info about Optional Header
            opHeader = ntHeader->OptionalHeader;
            //printf("\n\nInfo of optional Header\n-----------------------");
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Address of Entry Point : ",opHeader.AddressOfEntryPoint);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Base Address of the Image : ",opHeader.ImageBase);
            printf("\n%-36s%s","SubSystem type : ",
                opHeader.Subsystem==1?"Device Driver(Native windows Process)":
            opHeader.Subsystem==2?"Windows GUI":
            opHeader.Subsystem==3?"Windows CLI":
            opHeader.Subsystem==9?"Windows CE GUI":
            "Unknown"
                );
            printf("\n%-36s%s","Given file is a : ",opHeader.Magic==0x20b?"PE32+(64)":"PE32");
            printf("\n%-36s%d","Size of code segment(.text) : ",opHeader.SizeOfCode);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Base address of code segment(RVA) :",opHeader.BaseOfCode);
            printf("\n%-36s%d","Size of Initialized data : ",opHeader.SizeOfInitializedData);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Base address of data segment(RVA) :",opHeader.BaseOfData);
            printf("\n%-36s%#x","Section Alignment :",opHeader.SectionAlignment);
            printf("\n%-36s%d","Major Linker Version : ",opHeader.MajorLinkerVersion);
            printf("\n%-36s%d","Minor Linker Version : ",opHeader.MinorLinkerVersion);              



            printf("\n\nDumping Sections Header Info....\n--------------------------------");

            //Retrive a pointer to First Section Header(or Section Table Entry)


            for(pSecHeader = IMAGE_FIRST_SECTION(ntHeader),i=0;i<ntHeader->FileHeader.NumberOfSections;i++,pSecHeader++){   
                printf("\n\nSection Info (%d of %d)",i+1,ntHeader->FileHeader.NumberOfSections);
                printf("\n---------------------");
                printf("\n%-36s%s","Section Header name : ", pSecHeader->Name);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","ActualSize of code or data : ", pSecHeader->Misc.VirtualSize);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","Virtual Address(RVA) :", pSecHeader->VirtualAddress);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","Size of raw data (rounded to FA) : ", pSecHeader->SizeOfRawData);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","Pointer to Raw Data : ", pSecHeader->PointerToRawData);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","Pointer to Relocations : ", pSecHeader->PointerToRelocations);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","Pointer to Line numbers : ", pSecHeader->PointerToLinenumbers);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","Number of relocations : ", pSecHeader->NumberOfRelocations);
                printf("\n%-36s%#x","Number of line numbers : ", pSecHeader->NumberOfLinenumbers);
                printf("\n%-36s%s","Characteristics : ","Contains ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x20)==0x20)printf("executable code, ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x40)==0x40)printf("initialized data, ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x80)==0x80)printf("uninitialized data, ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x80)==0x80)printf("uninitialized data, ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x200)==0x200)printf("comments and linker commands, ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x10000000)==0x10000000)printf("shareable data(via DLLs), ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x40000000)==0x40000000)printf("Readable, ");
                if((pSecHeader->Characteristics&0x80000000)==0x80000000)printf("Writable, ");


                // If -h or /h option is given then provide HexDump
                if(argc==4&& (!strcmpi(argv[2],"-h")||!strcmpi(argv[2],"/h"))){
                    if(!strcmpi(argv[3],pSecHeader->Name))
                        if(pSecHeader->SizeOfRawData!=0)
                        HexDump((char *)((DWORD)dosHeader + pSecHeader->PointerToRawData) , pSecHeader->SizeOfRawData , opHeader.ImageBase + pSecHeader->VirtualAddress);
                }

            }


            printf("\n===============================================================================\n");
        }
        else goto end;

end:
        //UnMaping 
        UnmapViewOfFile(lpBase);
        CloseHandle(hMapObject);
    }
    else Help();
info:

    printf("\
            \
            \
                            This Program is written by\
                            K.Vineel Kumar Reddy.\
                                    III/IV IT\
                            Gayathri Vidya Parishad college of Eng.\
            \
            \
            ");
}