How to Detect Win32 Process Creation/Termination Without Kernel Drivers?

How to Detect Win32 Process Creation/Termination Without Kernel Drivers

While implementing a kernel-mode driver to monitor process events is a viable approach, it is not always feasible. This article explores how to detect Win32 process creation and termination using Win32 API functions alone.

Win32 API-Based Approach

The Win32 API does not provide a direct way to register system-wide callbacks for process events. However, there is a technique that leverages the WaitForSingleObject function:

1. Obtain the Process Handle: Retrieve the handle of the process to be monitored using OpenProcess.
2. Register a Callback: Use RegisterWaitForSingleObject to register a callback function, WaitOrTimerCallback, which will be invoked when the process terminates.

Sample Code

VOID CALLBACK WaitOrTimerCallback(
    _In_  PVOID lpParameter,
    _In_  BOOLEAN TimerOrWaitFired
    )
{
    MessageBox(0, L"The process has exited.", L"INFO", MB_OK);
    return;
}

DWORD dwProcessID = 1234;
HANDLE hProcHandle = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, dwProcessID);

HANDLE hNewHandle;
RegisterWaitForSingleObject(&hNewHandle, hProcHandle , WaitOrTimerCallback, NULL, INFINITE, WT_EXECUTEONLYONCE);

This code will execute the WaitOrTimerCallback function when the process identified by dwProcessID terminates.

Note

While this approach is more accessible than writing a kernel driver, it does not provide the same level of flexibility or efficiency. It is also important to consider that WaitForSingleObject is a blocking function, so it may impact the performance of your application in certain scenarios.

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