Is Windows Com Server with multiple clients connected multi threaded? - windows

I have a com server that is started in the following way:
extern "C" int WINAPI _tWinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,
HINSTANCE /*hPrevInstance*/, LPTSTR lpCmdLine, int /*nShowCmd*/)
{
lpCmdLine = GetCommandLine(); //this line necessary for _ATL_MIN_CRT
#if _WIN32_WINNT >= 0x0400 & defined(_ATL_FREE_THREADED)
HRESULT hRes = CoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_MULTITHREADED);
#else
HRESULT hRes = CoInitialize(NULL);
#endif
_ASSERTE(SUCCEEDED(hRes));
_Module.Init(ObjectMap, hInstance, &LIBID_EXACTACONSOLIDATIONLib);
_Module.dwThreadID = GetCurrentThreadId();
TCHAR szTokens[] = _T("-/");
int nRet = 0;
BOOL bRun = TRUE;
LPCTSTR lpszToken = FindOneOf(lpCmdLine, szTokens);
while (lpszToken != NULL)
{
if (lstrcmpi(lpszToken, _T("UnregServer"))==0)
{
_Module.UpdateRegistryFromResource(IDR_ExactaConsolidation, FALSE);
nRet = _Module.UnregisterServer(TRUE);
bRun = FALSE;
break;
}
if (lstrcmpi(lpszToken, _T("RegServer"))==0)
{
_Module.UpdateRegistryFromResource(IDR_ExactaConsolidation, TRUE);
nRet = _Module.RegisterServer(TRUE);
bRun = FALSE;
break;
}
lpszToken = FindOneOf(lpszToken, szTokens);
}
if (bRun)
{
_Module.StartMonitor();
#if _WIN32_WINNT >= 0x0400 & defined(_ATL_FREE_THREADED)
hRes = _Module.RegisterClassObjects(CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER,
REGCLS_MULTIPLEUSE | REGCLS_SUSPENDED);
_ASSERTE(SUCCEEDED(hRes));
hRes = CoResumeClassObjects();
#else
hRes = _Module.RegisterClassObjects(CLSCTX_LOCAL_SERVER,
REGCLS_MULTIPLEUSE);
#endif
_ASSERTE(SUCCEEDED(hRes));
MSG msg;
while (GetMessage(&msg, 0, 0, 0))
DispatchMessage(&msg);
_Module.RevokeClassObjects();
Sleep(dwPause); //wait for any threads to finish
}
}
My question is if multiple clients are connected to this COM Server does it process the requests (function calls to the com object that the com server is hosting) in a synchronous fashion?
The reason I ask is because of the following scenario:
Client A and Client B both connect to Com Server C. They both issue a request and this request involves using the COM Object to retrieve the next item (order in my case) from the database. No two clients should be allowed to have the same item so what basically happens is each item is marked as taken when it's retrieved from the database and returned to the client.
Is it sufficient in the scenario above to mark the item in the database as taken without worrying about race conditions if it's 2 clients connecting to the same COM server? If the requests are processed synchronously I would think this would be ok to just mark the item as taken.

This depends on whether the thread registering (or, rather, creating) the class objects is a Single Threaded Apartment or Multi-Threaded Apartment. See the MSDN article on the threading modes. If you initialized COM with CoInitialize(NULL) or CoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_APARTMENTTHREADED), you're in a STA; if you used CoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_MULTITHREADED) or CoInitializeEx(NULL, 0), you're in a MTA.
If you're in a MTA, COM will make multiple calls to your objects at the same time from a thread pool. In a STA, only one call will be made at a time. If you just want to avoid races, using a STA can be a reasonable approach; keep in mind that this will create a performance bottleneck, however, so for very high volume servers, or servers where requests may take a while, using a MTA with your own synchronization logic may be preferable.

Related

Detours DLL injection works only for specific applications

I try to hook some functions using Microsoft Detours. The method I'm using is CreateRemoteThread + LoadLibrary.
Yet, I've encountered that the exact same code works on notepad.exe, some chrome processes etc., but not on wmplayer.exe(Windows Media Player), Calculator.exe somehow. Is it correct to say that these applications probably tried to prevent this type of DLL injection? I can hardly come up with other possibilities.
Most of these code are copied from the Detours tutorial
The code can be seen and cloned from this repository in case anyone want to experiment them.
DLL:
INT APIENTRY DllMain(HMODULE hDLL, DWORD Reason, LPVOID Reserved)
{
try {
std::ofstream file("D:\\output.txt");
file << "Hello!\n";
file.close();
}
catch (...) {
std::ofstream file("D:\\error.txt");
file << "Hello!\n";
file.close();
}
}
Injector:
int main(void)
{
if (fileExists("D:\\output.txt"))
{
printf("Removing...\n");
remove("D:\\output.txt");
}
PROCESSENTRY32 pe32;
pe32.dwSize = sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
HANDLE hTool32 = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, NULL);
if (Process32First(hTool32, &pe32))
{
while ((Process32Next(hTool32, &pe32)) == TRUE) {
char exeName[] = "Calculator.exe";
//char exeName[] = "notepad.exe";
if (strcmp(pe32.szExeFile, exeName) == 0)
{
printf("Found %s at %d\n", exeName, pe32.th32ProcessID);
char* DirPath = new char[MAX_PATH];
char* FullPath = new char[MAX_PATH];
GetCurrentDirectory(MAX_PATH, DirPath);
sprintf_s(FullPath, MAX_PATH, "%s\\..\\x64\\Debug\\TestDLL.dll", DirPath);
printf("%s File exists: %d\n", FullPath, fileExists(FullPath));
HANDLE hProcess = OpenProcess(
PROCESS_CREATE_THREAD | PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | PROCESS_VM_OPERATION | PROCESS_VM_WRITE | PROCESS_VM_READ, FALSE, pe32.th32ProcessID);
LPVOID LoadLibraryAddr = (LPVOID)GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandle("kernel32.dll"), "LoadLibraryA");
LPVOID LLParam = (LPVOID)VirtualAllocEx(hProcess, NULL, strlen(FullPath),
MEM_RESERVE | MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
BOOL status = WriteProcessMemory(hProcess, LLParam, FullPath, strlen(FullPath), NULL);
auto handle = CreateRemoteThread(hProcess, NULL, NULL, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)LoadLibraryAddr,
LLParam, NULL, NULL);
CloseHandle(hProcess);
delete[] DirPath;
delete[] FullPath;
std::cin.get();
}
}
}
CloseHandle(hTool32);
return 0;
}
when the variable exeName is set to "notepad.exe", the file "D:\output.txt" will be created, while setting the variable to "Calculator.exe" won't.
If my guess is correct, is using other injection method(ex. SetWindowsHookEx) the only way I can make these work?
On Windows 10, "Calculator" is Windows App and according to Detours documentation detours doesn't work for Windows App for following reason
Why can't my Windows Store app for Windows 8 include Detours?
Windows Store apps may use only a subset of the Win32 API. Detours
requires several Win32 APIs that are forbidden in for Windows App
Certification. Forbidden APIs used by Detours include VirtualAlloc,
VirtualProtect, and FlushInstructionCache.
As per Microsoft documentation
Windows apps:: All apps installed in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps.
Path of "Calculator" on Windows 10 is
C:\Program
Files\WindowsApps\microsoft.windowscalculator_10.2103.8.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\Calculator.exe
Personally I think these applications indeed prevented from being injected by the CreateRemoteThread + LoadLibrary method since it's the most basic approach, but this guess needs further proof. After I switched to use the SetWindowsHookEX method in this repository, the DllMain will be called successfully.

How to minimize cpu usage in a thread created by _beginThreadEx?

I have a Windows app that simply runs in the background and watches constantly for data appearing on stdin by means of a separate thread. It does this because it is a Chrome native messaging host and that's how it is expected to communicate with the browser extension (as is clarified in this SO question by RobW). It seems to run fine although imo it uses too much of the cpu when there is no activity. When the browser extension sends bytes on stdin to my app it has to be discovered and processed immediately, and because the processing is intensive an increased demand for cpu usage is understandable, but seems it should not use much when there is no activity.
Disclaimer: I would not call myself an experienced Windows developer.
I am using _beginThreadEx() to launch the function that reads constantly from stdin. The thread is created in InitInstance() like so:
BOOL InitInstance(HINSTANCE hInstance, int nCmdShow)
{
HWND hWnd;
int nStdInDescriptor = _fileno(stdin);
hStdIn = (HANDLE) _get_osfhandle(nStdInDescriptor);
OutputDebugStringA("starting message processing thread function");
hReadInputThread = (HANDLE)_beginthreadex(0, 0, &threadfunc_processMessages, &i, 0, 0);
hWnd = CreateWindowEx(WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW, szWindowClass, szTitle, WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW, CW_USEDEFAULT, 0, CW_USEDEFAULT, 0, NULL, NULL, hInstance, NULL);
if (!hWnd && !hReadInputThread)
{
return FALSE;
}
hMainWnd = hWnd;
return TRUE;
}
and
unsigned int __stdcall threadfunc_processMessages(void* data)
{
char buffer_temp[STDIN_BUF_SIZE];
buffer_main = NULL;
DWORD dwNumBytesRead;
DWORD dwNumBytesToRead = STDIN_BUF_SIZE;
while (1) {
if (ReadFile(hStdIn, buffer_temp, dwNumBytesToRead, &dwNumBytesRead, NULL)) {
OutputDebugStringA( "Found some bytes on stdin" );
// byte processing code here. it always processes normally
}
}
return 0;
}
Task Manager shows cpu usage around 49%. I assumed _beginThreadEx() would run in the background, yet still be responsive since it needs to pounce on any data that shows up on stdin. Any help is appreciated.

force any running process to crash

I would like to crash a running program of my choice (e.g., notepad++, becrypt, word) for software testing purposes.
I know how to BSOD, I know how to cause a program I write to crash, I know how to end process - but how to crash an existing process I do not!
any help?
Well, use CreateRemoteThread on a remote process and invoke something [1] that crashes the process reliably. I'm not sure whether CreateRemoteThread guards against null pointers, but you could pass an address in the null page to it and have the remote process execute that.
[1] null pointer or null page access, division by zero, invoking a privileged instruction, int3 ...
Example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <tchar.h>
#include <Windows.h>
BOOL setCurrentPrivilege(BOOL bEnable, LPCTSTR lpszPrivilege)
{
HANDLE hToken = 0;
if(::OpenThreadToken(::GetCurrentThread(), TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES | TOKEN_QUERY, FALSE, &hToken)
|| ::OpenProcessToken(::GetCurrentProcess(), TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES | TOKEN_QUERY, &hToken))
{
TOKEN_PRIVILEGES tp;
LUID luid;
if(!::LookupPrivilegeValue(
NULL, // lookup privilege on local system
lpszPrivilege, // privilege to lookup
&luid ) ) // receives LUID of privilege
{
::CloseHandle(hToken);
return FALSE;
}
tp.PrivilegeCount = 1;
tp.Privileges[0].Luid = luid;
tp.Privileges[0].Attributes = (bEnable) ? SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED : 0;
// Enable the privilege or disable all privileges.
if(!::AdjustTokenPrivileges(
hToken,
FALSE,
&tp,
sizeof(TOKEN_PRIVILEGES),
(PTOKEN_PRIVILEGES) NULL,
(PDWORD) NULL)
)
{
CloseHandle(hToken);
return FALSE;
}
::CloseHandle(hToken);
}
return TRUE;
}
int killProcess(DWORD processID)
{
HANDLE hProcess = ::OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, processID);
if(hProcess)
{
if(!setCurrentPrivilege(TRUE, SE_DEBUG_NAME))
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Could not enable debug privilege\n"));
}
HANDLE hThread = ::CreateRemoteThread(hProcess, NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)1, NULL, 0, NULL);
if(hThread)
{
::CloseHandle(hThread);
}
else
{
_tprintf(TEXT("Error: %d\n"), GetLastError());
::CloseHandle(hProcess);
return 1;
}
::CloseHandle(hProcess);
}
return 0;
}
int __cdecl _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR *argv[])
{
killProcess(3016);
}
Of course you'll want to adjust the PID in the call to killProcess. Compiled with WNET DDK and tested on 2003 Server R2.
The gist here is that we tell the remote process to execute code at address 0x1 ((LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)1), which is inside the null page but not a null pointer (in case there are checks against that). The crud around the function, in particular setCurrentPrivilege is used to gain full debug privileges so we can do our evil deed.
You can use DLL injection technique in order to inject your code into another process. Then in your injected code do something simple like abort() or division by zero.
A two steps mechanism is needed:
inject the process to crash (using an injection library, using Detours, using a Hook installation, etc..). What you choose depends on the time and knowledge you have and other preconditions (like credentials, anti-injection protection, size of the foot-print you want to leave..)
perform an invalid operation in the injected process (like int 2Eh, divide by null, etc..)
Here's how to do that with the winapiexec tool:
winapiexec64.exe CreateRemoteThread ( OpenProcess 0x1F0FFF 0 1234 ) 0 0 0xDEAD 0 0 0
Replace 1234 with the process id and run the command, the process will crash.

CreateRemoteThread returning ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED - Windows 7 DLL Injection

I'm trying to write a program that uses CreateRemoteThread to inject a dll.
The problem is that CreateRemoteThread is refusing to work. GetLastError() is returning 5 which is ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED. I cant figure why!
I am working from this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3O3hmXkt1I .
#include <iostream>
#include <direct.h>
#include <Windows.h>
#include <TlHelp32.h>
using namespace std;
char* GetCurrentDir()
{
char* szRet = (char*)malloc(MAX_PATH);
_getcwd(szRet, MAX_PATH);
return szRet;
}
LPCTSTR SzToLPCTSTR(char* szString)
{
LPTSTR lpszRet;
size_t size = strlen(szString)+1;
lpszRet = (LPTSTR)malloc(MAX_PATH);
mbstowcs_s(NULL, lpszRet, size, szString, _TRUNCATE);
return lpszRet;
}
void WaitForProcessToAppear(LPCTSTR lpcszProc, DWORD dwDelay)
{
HANDLE hSnap;
PROCESSENTRY32 peProc;
BOOL bAppeared = FALSE;
while(!bAppeared)
{
if((hSnap = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0)) != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
peProc.dwSize = sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
if(Process32First(hSnap, &peProc))
while(Process32Next(hSnap, &peProc) && !bAppeared)
if(!lstrcmp(lpcszProc, peProc.szExeFile))
bAppeared = TRUE;
}
CloseHandle(hSnap);
Sleep(dwDelay);
}
}
DWORD GetProcessIdByName(LPCTSTR lpcszProc)
{
HANDLE hSnap;
PROCESSENTRY32 peProc;
DWORD dwRet = -1;
if((hSnap = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0)) != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
peProc.dwSize = sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
if(Process32First(hSnap, &peProc))
while(Process32Next(hSnap, &peProc))
if(!lstrcmp(lpcszProc, peProc.szExeFile))
dwRet = peProc.th32ProcessID;
}
CloseHandle(hSnap);
return dwRet;
}
BOOL InjectDll(DWORD dwPid, char* szDllPath)
{
DWORD dwMemSize;
HANDLE hProc;
LPVOID lpRemoteMem, lpLoadLibrary;
BOOL bRet = FALSE;
if((hProc = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, dwPid)) != NULL)
{
dwMemSize = strlen(szDllPath);
if((lpRemoteMem = VirtualAllocEx(hProc, NULL, dwMemSize, MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)) != NULL)
if(WriteProcessMemory(hProc, lpRemoteMem, szDllPath, dwMemSize, NULL))
{
lpLoadLibrary = GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandleA("kernel32.dll"), "LoadLibraryA");
if(CreateRemoteThread(hProc, NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)lpLoadLibrary, lpRemoteMem, 0, NULL) != NULL)
{
bRet = TRUE;
}
cout << GetLastError();
}
}
CloseHandle(hProc);
return bRet;
}
int main()
{
char szProc[MAX_PATH], szDll[MAX_PATH];
char* szDllPath = (char*)malloc(MAX_PATH);
LPTSTR lpszProc = NULL;
for(;;)
{
cout << "Process: ";
cin >> szProc;
cout << "DLL: ";
cin >> szDll;
szDllPath = GetCurrentDir();
strcat_s(szDllPath, MAX_PATH, "\\");
strcat_s(szDllPath, MAX_PATH, szDll);
cout << "Waiting for process.. ." << szDllPath << " " << szDll << endl;
WaitForProcessToAppear(SzToLPCTSTR(szProc), 100);
if(InjectDll(GetProcessIdByName(SzToLPCTSTR(szProc)), szDllPath))
cout << "Injection Succeeded!" << endl;
else
cout << "Injection Failed!" << endl;
cout << "\n";
}
return 0;
After a fair amount of googling I cant find a reason why this should not be working.
Does CreateRemoteThread not work under Windows 7 ?
If it does, have I made any obvious mistakes ?
The reason it fails is because your code is 32-bit and your target process is 64-bit.
It doesn't matter how many privileges you own. Windows won't let that happen.
I had the same problem. Either you spawn a system 32-bit exe and inject that or port your code to 64-bit (which means it won't work on 32-bit systems).
EDIT
A long time ago, I found a nice way of injecting code into and from any processor mode-target. It involves dynamically switching the processor mode to that of (any)the target. Dubbed "heaven's gate". To do this you have to use inline assembly. So basically, you can have both 64-bit and 32-bit code in a 32-bit exe, detect if the machine is 64-bit, then jump into 64-bit mode and run the 64-bit code. You'd then walk the imports to find ntdll and load 64-bit kernel.dll and other libraries.
Link: https://www.google.com/search?q=heaven's+gate+windows
Immediate problems I see are that you are not getting the access token which should be done as so:
HANDLE hToken;
TOKEN_PRIVILEGES tp;
HANDLE hProcess = OpenProcess( PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, GetCurrentProcessId() );
tp.PrivilegeCount = 1;
LookupPrivilegeValue( NULL, _T("SeDebugPrivilege"), &tp.Privileges[0].Luid );
tp.Privileges[0].Attributes = SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED;
OpenProcessToken( hProcess, TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES, &hToken );
AdjustTokenPrivileges( hToken, FALSE, &tp, NULL, NULL, NULL );
CloseHandle( hToken );
I don't have time to look through all your code right now, but here is something I ripped out of one of my previous projects:
// returns open process handle
HANDLE InjectDLL( DWORD dwPID, LPCWSTR szDLLPath, HMODULE* lphInjected ) {
int cszDLL;
LPVOID lpAddress;
HMODULE hMod;
HANDLE hThread;
HANDLE hProcess = OpenProcess( PROCESS_CREATE_THREAD |
PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | PROCESS_VM_OPERATION |
PROCESS_VM_WRITE | PROCESS_VM_READ, FALSE, dwPID );
if( hProcess == NULL ) {
return NULL;
}
cszDLL = ( wcslen( szDLLPath ) + 1 ) * sizeof( WCHAR );
// Injection
lpAddress = VirtualAllocEx( hProcess, NULL, cszDLL, MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE );
if( lpAddress == NULL ) {
return NULL;
}
WriteProcessMemory( hProcess, lpAddress, szDLLPath, cszDLL, NULL );
hMod = GetModuleHandle( L"kernel32.dll" );
if( hMod == NULL ) {
return NULL;
}
hThread = CreateRemoteThread( hProcess, NULL, 0,
(LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)( GetProcAddress( hMod,
"LoadLibraryW" ) ), lpAddress, 0, NULL );
// Locate address our payload was loaded
if( hThread != 0 ) {
WaitForSingleObject( hThread, INFINITE );
GetExitCodeThread( hThread, ( LPDWORD )lphInjected );
VirtualFreeEx( hProcess, lpAddress, 0, MEM_RELEASE );
CloseHandle( hThread );
}
return hThread != 0 ? hProcess : NULL;
}
See if it helps. Will look again later.
OK, your code is likely to fail in windows 7 and Vista because of "Protected processes", that is, processes which only can be manipulated by other Protected Processes, like explorer.exe, etc... In Windows 7 x32 there is a way: since you are able to load unsigned drivers,... well, you are done (search for Alex Ionescu in google). In Windows 7 x64, though, you can't (duh!)
"The fourth parameter of the CreateRemoteThread() is an address. In your case it is the LoadLibraryA address. However, in windows 7, Kernel32.dll/LoadLibraryA base address will various in different process;"
Well, that's not remotely true, because DLLs are shared at the same addresses in every process, despite ASLR. DLLs can be rebased, though, but you can call GetProcAddress before calling CreateRemoteThread, so it is very unlikely that the DLL will get rebased meanwhile.
I think CreateRemoteThread() dll injection method can not work in windows 7.
The fourth parameter of the CreateRemoteThread() is an address. In your case it is the LoadLibraryA address. However, in windows 7, Kernel32.dll/LoadLibraryA base address will various in different process; Therefore, the CreateRemoteThread() will not work since the address is not what u expected. This is my own opinion, hope it will help. :)
CreateRemoteThread function does not work in Win Vista/7. You have to use NTCreateThread function,which is undocumented, for that.
TLDR : your code is okey , change the Visual Studio debug/compile target to x64.
I've faced the same problem before, your code is Okey, The problem is , the Visual Studio(or any sane person) execute its programs in x86 mode (32bit) by default, because it would be nice to compile your program in a way that runs in both x86 or x64 architecture but not in the process injection scenario! because of its system calls.
In the code injection case, you should change the build and debug setting of the VS to compile/debug for x64 processor in properties of your project in the project explorer,
or if you cross compiling your program, you should use x64 compiler.
If you are looking for global process injection method, there was a method called Heaven’s Gate or The 0x33 Segment Selector, which was used in Vawtrak banking malware.
You could see this link about Heaven’s Gate method, which says:
In other words, it gives one the ability to create “naked” 64-bit
code, which will be able to run covertly, including issuing system
calls, without the majority of products able to intercept and/or
introspect its execution

How do I get a list of available serial ports in Win32?

I have some legacy code that provides a list of the available COM ports on the PC by calling the EnumPorts() function and then filtering for the port names that start with "COM".
For testing purposes it would be very useful if I could use this code with something like com0com, which provides pairs of virtual COM ports looped together as a null-modem.
However the com0com ports are not found by the EnumPorts() function (even without filtering for "COM"). HyperTerminal and SysInternals PortMon can both see them, so I'm sure it is installed correctly.
So is there some other Win32 function that provides a definitive list of available serial ports?
The EnumSerialPorts v1.20 suggested by Nick D uses nine different methods to list the serial ports! We're certainly not short on choice, though the results seem to vary.
To save others the trouble, I'll list them here and indicate their success in finding the com0com ports on my PC (XP Pro SP2):
CreateFile("COM" + 1->255) as suggested by Wael Dalloul
✔ Found com0com ports, took 234ms.
QueryDosDevice()
✔ Found com0com ports, took 0ms.
GetDefaultCommConfig("COM" + 1->255)
✔ Found com0com ports, took 235ms.
"SetupAPI1" using calls to SETUPAPI.DLL
✔ Found com0com ports, also reported "friendly names", took 15ms.
"SetupAPI2" using calls to SETUPAPI.DLL
✘ Did not find com0com ports, reported "friendly names", took 32ms.
EnumPorts()
✘ Reported some non-COM ports, did not find com0com ports, took 15ms.
Using WMI calls
✔ Found com0com ports, also reported "friendly names", took 47ms.
COM Database using calls to MSPORTS.DLL
✔/✘ Reported some non-COM ports, found com0com ports, took 16ms.
Iterate over registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM
✔ Found com0com ports, took 0ms. This is apparently what SysInternals PortMon uses.
Based on those results I think the WMI method probably suits my requirements best as it is relatively fast and as a bonus it also gives the friendly names (e.g. "Communications Port (COM1)", "com0com - serial port emulator").
It appears that it's not a simple task.
Check out this: EnumSerialPorts v1.20
you can make loop for example from 1 to 50 and try to open each port. If the port is available, the open will work. If the port is in use, you'll get a sharing error. If the port is not installed, you'll get a file not found error.
to open the port use CreateFile API:
HANDLE Port = CreateFile(
"\\\\.\\COM1",
GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
0,
NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING,
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
NULL);
then check the result.
In my case, I need both the full names and COM port addresses. I have physical serial ports, USB serial ports, and com0com virtual serial ports.
Like the accepted answer suggests, I use WMI calls. SELECT * FROM Win32_PnPEntity find all devices. It returns physical devices like this, and address can be parsed from Caption:
Serial Port for Barcode Scanner (COM13)
However, for com0com ports Caption is like this (no address):
com0com - serial port emulator
SELECT * FROM Win32_SerialPort returns addresses (DeviceID), as well as full names (Name). However, it only finds physical serial ports and com0com ports, not USB serial ports.
So in the end, I need two WMI calls: SELECT * FROM Win32_SerialPort (address is DeviceID) and SELECT * FROM Win32_PnPEntity WHERE Name LIKE '%(COM%' (address can be parsed from Caption). I have narrowed down the Win32_PnPEntity call, because it only needs to find devices that were not found in the first call.
This C++ code can be used to find all serial ports:
// Return list of serial ports as (number, name)
std::map<int, std::wstring> enumerateSerialPorts()
{
std::map<int, std::wstring> result;
HRESULT hres;
hres = CoInitializeEx(0, COINIT_APARTMENTTHREADED);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres) || hres == RPC_E_CHANGED_MODE) {
hres = CoInitializeSecurity(
NULL,
-1, // COM authentication
NULL, // Authentication services
NULL, // Reserved
RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_DEFAULT, // Default authentication
RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_IMPERSONATE, // Default Impersonation
NULL, // Authentication info
EOAC_NONE, // Additional capabilities
NULL // Reserved
);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres) || hres == RPC_E_TOO_LATE) {
IWbemLocator *pLoc = NULL;
hres = CoCreateInstance(
CLSID_WbemLocator,
0,
CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
IID_IWbemLocator, (LPVOID *) &pLoc);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres)) {
IWbemServices *pSvc = NULL;
// Connect to the root\cimv2 namespace with
// the current user and obtain pointer pSvc
// to make IWbemServices calls.
hres = pLoc->ConnectServer(
bstr_t(L"ROOT\\CIMV2"), // Object path of WMI namespace
NULL, // User name. NULL = current user
NULL, // User password. NULL = current
0, // Locale. NULL indicates current
NULL, // Security flags.
0, // Authority (for example, Kerberos)
0, // Context object
&pSvc // pointer to IWbemServices proxy
);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres)) {
hres = CoSetProxyBlanket(
pSvc, // Indicates the proxy to set
RPC_C_AUTHN_WINNT, // RPC_C_AUTHN_xxx
RPC_C_AUTHZ_NONE, // RPC_C_AUTHZ_xxx
NULL, // Server principal name
RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_CALL, // RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_xxx
RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_IMPERSONATE, // RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_xxx
NULL, // client identity
EOAC_NONE // proxy capabilities
);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres)) {
// Use Win32_PnPEntity to find actual serial ports and USB-SerialPort devices
// This is done first, because it also finds some com0com devices, but names are worse
IEnumWbemClassObject* pEnumerator = NULL;
hres = pSvc->ExecQuery(
bstr_t(L"WQL"),
bstr_t(L"SELECT Name FROM Win32_PnPEntity WHERE Name LIKE '%(COM%'"),
WBEM_FLAG_FORWARD_ONLY | WBEM_FLAG_RETURN_IMMEDIATELY,
NULL,
&pEnumerator);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres)) {
constexpr size_t max_ports = 30;
IWbemClassObject *pclsObj[max_ports] = {};
ULONG uReturn = 0;
do {
hres = pEnumerator->Next(WBEM_INFINITE, max_ports, pclsObj, &uReturn);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres)) {
for (ULONG jj = 0; jj < uReturn; jj++) {
VARIANT vtProp;
pclsObj[jj]->Get(L"Name", 0, &vtProp, 0, 0);
// Name should be for example "Serial Port for Barcode Scanner (COM13)"
const std::wstring deviceName = vtProp.bstrVal;
const std::wstring prefix = L"(COM";
size_t ind = deviceName.find(prefix);
if (ind != std::wstring::npos) {
std::wstring nbr;
for (size_t i = ind + prefix.length();
i < deviceName.length() && isdigit(deviceName[i]); i++)
{
nbr += deviceName[i];
}
try {
const int portNumber = boost::lexical_cast<int>(nbr);
result[portNumber] = deviceName;
}
catch (...) {}
}
VariantClear(&vtProp);
pclsObj[jj]->Release();
}
}
} while (hres == WBEM_S_NO_ERROR);
pEnumerator->Release();
}
// Use Win32_SerialPort to find physical ports and com0com virtual ports
// This is more reliable, because address doesn't have to be parsed from the name
pEnumerator = NULL;
hres = pSvc->ExecQuery(
bstr_t(L"WQL"),
bstr_t(L"SELECT DeviceID, Name FROM Win32_SerialPort"),
WBEM_FLAG_FORWARD_ONLY | WBEM_FLAG_RETURN_IMMEDIATELY,
NULL,
&pEnumerator);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres)) {
constexpr size_t max_ports = 30;
IWbemClassObject *pclsObj[max_ports] = {};
ULONG uReturn = 0;
do {
hres = pEnumerator->Next(WBEM_INFINITE, max_ports, pclsObj, &uReturn);
if (SUCCEEDED(hres)) {
for (ULONG jj = 0; jj < uReturn; jj++) {
VARIANT vtProp1, vtProp2;
pclsObj[jj]->Get(L"DeviceID", 0, &vtProp1, 0, 0);
pclsObj[jj]->Get(L"Name", 0, &vtProp2, 0, 0);
const std::wstring deviceID = vtProp1.bstrVal;
if (deviceID.substr(0, 3) == L"COM") {
const int portNumber = boost::lexical_cast<int>(deviceID.substr(3));
const std::wstring deviceName = vtProp2.bstrVal;
result[portNumber] = deviceName;
}
VariantClear(&vtProp1);
VariantClear(&vtProp2);
pclsObj[jj]->Release();
}
}
} while (hres == WBEM_S_NO_ERROR);
pEnumerator->Release();
}
}
pSvc->Release();
}
pLoc->Release();
}
}
CoUninitialize();
}
if (FAILED(hres)) {
std::stringstream ss;
ss << "Enumerating serial ports failed. Error code: " << int(hres);
throw std::runtime_error(ss.str());
}
return result;
}
It's available now in Windows, GetCommPorts can directly return a list of comm ports
Gets an array that contains the well-formed COM ports.
This function obtains the COM port numbers from the
HKLM\Hardware\DeviceMap\SERIALCOMM registry key and then writes them
to a caller-supplied array. If the array is too small, the function
gets the necessary size.
you will need to add this code in order to link the function correctly
#pragma comment (lib, "OneCore.lib")
I have reorganized PJ Naughter 's EnumSerialPorts as more portable and individual forms, that is more useful.
For better in compatibility, I use C, instead of C++.
If you need or be interested in it, please visit the post in my blogger.

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