@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ To uninstall, simply delete `dxgi.dll` from `%windir%`.
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ To uninstall, simply delete `dxgi.dll` from `%windir%`.
#### How does this work?
The mechanism the application gets loaded is by exploiting the DLL search order in Windows. I take advantage of the fact that Explorer is one of the few system processes located in `%windir%` and not in `%windir%\System32`, so it does not affect most apps. Also, `%windir%` is not in the search path. Read more about this technique [here](https://itm4n.github.io/windows-dll-hijacking-clarified/). The main advantage here is that you do not have to keep an extra process running in the memory; plus, due to the diverse nature of how Explorer is launched, hooking it can be difficult.
The mechanism the application gets loaded is by exploiting the DLL search order in Windows. I take advantage of the fact that Explorer is one of the few system processes located in `%windir%` and not in `%windir%\System32`, so it does not affect most apps. Also, `%windir%` is not first in the search path. Read more about this technique [here](https://itm4n.github.io/windows-dll-hijacking-clarified/). The main advantage here is that you do not have to keep an extra process running in the memory; plus, due to the diverse nature of how Explorer is launched, hooking it can be difficult.
I picked `dxgi.dll` because it is not on the `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\KnownDLLs` list, because it has few exports and is loaded very early by Explorer, when calling the `DXGIDeclareAdapterRemovalSupport()` function.