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Security Evangelist at Gen

Threat Operations Analyst at Gen

Research

A fake invoice in your email is easy to ignore. A fake invoice inside your order history feels different.&nbsp;Norton customers have reported fake Norton invoices appearing inside the Shop app, the shopping and order-tracking app from Shopify. Public reports suggest the same technique is not limited to Norton. Similar suspicious Shop app notifications have used McAfee, Apple gift cards, iPhones, PayPal-style payment claims and other high-value purchases as bait. The impersonated brand may change, but the mechanics are familiar: make the user believe they have been charged, then give them a phone number to call.&nbsp;That phone number is where the scam really begins.&nbsp;<h4>Why the Shop app makes this more believable&nbsp;</h4>Shop is a legitimate app. People use it to track packages, check receipts and receive order updates. According to Shop’s own documentation, the app can automatically track orders from several sources, including Gmail, Outlook, the email address linked to the user’s Shop account and orders paid through Shop Pay. If Gmail or Outlook is connected, Shop says it scans recent emails for keywords such as “tracking number” and “track your package” to populate deliveries in the Orders tab.&nbsp;

Shop also supports push notifications for delivery updates, payments and favorite products. So the first alert the victim sees may not be an email, an SMS or a calendar invite. It may be a notification from an app they already use for real purchases.&nbsp;That context matters. The scam text is not especially polished. Some of the examples we reviewed contain awkward wording and obvious signs of fraud. But when the message appears inside an order-tracking app, surrounded by real receipts and shipping updates, users may give it more credibility than it deserves.&nbsp;The screenshots reported to us show fake orders under generic seller names such as “My Store.” The receipts claim that a Norton or Norton LifeLock subscription has been activated or renewed, usually for several hundred dollars. The phone number appears in the product description, the receipt body or even the shipping address field.&nbsp;That is not how a normal receipt should look.&nbsp;<h4>The brand is interchangeable&nbsp;</h4>Norton is the example we saw through customer reports. Norton support now warns that scammers may abuse Android and iOS shopping platforms or applications to generate fake order notifications that appear to be legitimate Norton purchases. Those notifications may include fake order confirmations, fake charges, trusted third-party app delivery and fake support phone numbers embedded in order details.&nbsp;Public user reports point to a wider pattern. One Reddit user described receiving a Shop.app message about a transaction they did not recognize, with no follow-up email confirmation, and a message telling them to call support if the order was not placed by them. Another thread includes reports of unrecognized iPhone purchases under “My Store,” suspicious contact emails and users saying they saw no matching charges on their bank cards. Other reports mention fictitious Apple gift card purchases and iPhone orders using the same kind of wording: “If Order Not Placed By You,” followed by a phone number.&nbsp;The choice of brand is part of the social engineering. A fake security subscription charge plays on two fears at once: being billed for something you did not buy, and being left unprotected if you ignore it. Apple products and gift cards create high-value purchase panic. PayPal-style wording makes users worry about payment account abuse. In each case, the fake order is there to push the victim toward a call.&nbsp;<h4>What we know, and what we do not&nbsp;</h4>We have not found any evidence that any of the impersonated brands have been compromised.&nbsp;&nbsp;We also should not claim that Shop or Shopify was breached based on the evidence we have. The exact abuse path still needs confirmation. The fake order may be entering the app through a merchant/order workflow, through email parsing, through account association, or through another legitimate mechanism that scammers have found a way to misuse. Shop’s own documentation shows that orders can populate from multiple sources, so assuming one route would be premature.&nbsp;&nbsp;What we can say is narrower and stronger: scammers are placing fake purchase claims inside shopping app order experiences, where users are used to seeing real receipts and order updates. Norton’s own support page now describes this class of shopping app scam, and public reports show similar lures using other brands and products.&nbsp;&nbsp;That is enough to warn users without overstating the technical evidence.&nbsp;<h4>How the scam works&nbsp;</h4>The user receives a notification or sees a new order in the Shop app. The order looks like a receipt for something expensive: a security subscription, an Apple gift card, an iPhone, a MacBook or another high-value purchase.

The receipt says the charge has been processed, the subscription has renewed, or the order is being prepared. Somewhere in the order details, the scammer inserts a phone number, email address or support instruction.&nbsp;The wording is often clumsy. We have seen phrases like “If Order Not Place By You” and “If Need Help.” Those errors may look obvious when reviewing a screenshot. They are easier to miss when a phone notification tells you that hundreds of dollars have just been charged.&nbsp;If the victim calls, the scam moves off-platform. The person answering may claim to be billing support, Norton support, PayPal support or a cancellation department. The script can vary, but the request usually moves toward credentials, payment data, one-time codes or remote access software.&nbsp;By that point, the fake receipt has done its job. It has created enough urgency for the victim to enter a conversation controlled by the scammer.&nbsp;<h4>Why this is harder for users to judge&nbsp;</h4>Most people understand that email can be spam. They may still fall for phishing, but at least the inbox is a place where scams are expected.&nbsp;Order-tracking apps are different. Their purpose is to collect receipts, shipping updates and purchase information in one place. A notification from that environment can feel as if it has already passed through some layer of trust, even when the content inside the order is fraudulent.&nbsp;We have seen the same logic with calendar invite scams. The message itself is not always convincing, but the delivery channel changes how people read it. A fake invoice in an inbox is one thing. A fake invoice inside a calendar reminder or shopping app receipt can feel closer to a real event.&nbsp;For security products, this also creates a detection problem. The first visible alert may not be an email, SMS or malicious website. It may be a legitimate app notification carrying fraudulent text. The scam still depends on social engineering, but the delivery surface is harder to classify with the usual rules.&nbsp;<h4>What to do if you see one&nbsp;</h4>Do not call the number in the receipt.&nbsp;Check the charge directly. Open your bank or credit card app. Open the official account for the brand being impersonated. If it claims to be Norton, go to your Norton account or official Norton support. If it claims to involve PayPal, open PayPal directly. Do not use the phone number, email address or link inside the suspicious order.&nbsp;If there is no matching charge, treat the receipt as a scam attempt.&nbsp;Report the suspicious store or message in the Shop app if the option is available. Shop’s help pages say suspicious Shop stores can be reported from the store page through the app, and Shopify also tells users to forward phishing messages to its phishing inbox.&nbsp;&nbsp;Norton users can forward suspicious messages to Norton and should verify unexpected charges only through their Norton account or official Norton support channels.&nbsp;&nbsp;Opening the receipt does not automatically mean your device was compromised. The risk increases if you call the number, share information, install software or follow instructions from the person on the phone.&nbsp;<h4>What to do if you have already called&nbsp;</h4>End the call.&nbsp;If you shared payment details, contact your bank or card provider immediately using the number on your card or inside your banking app. If you gave away a password, change it from a different device if possible. Start with your email account, Apple ID or Google account, banking account and any account connected to the fake invoice.&nbsp;If you installed remote access software, disconnect the device from the internet and remove the software. Run a security scan before using the device again for banking, email or shopping.&nbsp;If you gave a one-time code to the caller, treat the related account as compromised. Change the password, review recovery options and check recent login activity.&nbsp;<h4>The lesson&nbsp;</h4>Scammers keep testing new places to put old tricks. For years, fake invoices were mostly an email problem. Then similar subscription notices appeared in calendar invites. Now we are seeing fake receipts inside shopping app order histories and push notification flows.&nbsp;The safest response is to separate the alert from the action. If an app, email, text message or calendar invite says you have been charged, do not use the contact details inside that alert. Go directly to the account or payment provider yourself. Check whether the charge exists. Use official support channels.&nbsp;The fake receipt, the fake support number and the fake emergency are all part of the same controlled environment. The moment you verify the charge somewhere else, the scam loses most of its power.&nbsp;

Scammers are using order-tracking apps to place fake receipts where users expect to see real purchases, then pushing them to call fake support numbers. 

Fake invoices are moving from inboxes to shopping apps 

Threat Researcher at Gen

<h2>Introduction&nbsp;</h2>Infostealers are constantly evolving, and so are the techniques they use to bypass <a href="https://security.googleblog.com/2024/07/improving-security-of-chrome-cookies-on.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Application-Bound Encryption (ABE)</a>. In recent weeks, Vidar has been among the most actively developed stealers and, apart from <a href="https://x.com/GenThreatLabs/status/2064836539952361976" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multiple updates to its string obfuscation</a> and <a href="https://x.com/GenThreatLabs/status/2061462524604649840" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a reworked approach to protecting its configuration</a>, it has also introduced a novel technique for bypassing ABE. And while there have been many other changes in Vidar lately, with new versions dropping every week, in this blog post we focus solely on the ABE bypass and its technical aspects.&nbsp; &nbsp;<h2>The ABE Bypass&nbsp;</h2>From a high-level perspective, Vidar’s approach to bypassing ABE is somewhat similar to that of Remus/Lumma, in that both try to extract the <code>v20_master_key</code> directly from the browser’s memory. What sets them apart, however, is how they achieve it. Since we’ve already covered the inner workings of ABE in earlier posts (<a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/insights/research/remus-64bit-variant-of-lumma-stealer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Remus</a>, <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/insights/research/voidstealer-abe-bypass" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">VoidStealer</a>), we don’t revisit them here and focus instead on the bypass itself. For readers interested in the broader background, we encourage checking those earlier posts.&nbsp;&nbsp;In short, the end goal of infostealers is to obtain the <code>v20_master_key</code>, as it alone is sufficient for decrypting any ABE-protected data tied to a specific application. This key can be obtained in one of two ways: either from disk, where it is protected by two layers of <code>CryptProtectData</code> (one applied in the context of the logged-in user and one as <code>NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM</code>), or from the browser’s memory – the direction Vidar took.&nbsp;In memory, however, the key is kept protected with <code>CryptProtectMemory</code> using the <code>CRYPTPROTECTMEMORY_SAME_PROCESS</code> flag. This ensures that even if an attacker manages to read the encrypted form of the key from memory, they cannot simply decrypt it (they would need to invoke the complementary <code>CryptUnprotectMemory</code> function directly from within the browser process). That leaves attackers with two problems to solve: how to find the encrypted key in memory, and how to get it decrypted.&nbsp;<h2>Locating the v20_master_key in Browser’s Memory&nbsp;</h2>Vidar’s approach to locating the encrypted <code>v20_master_key</code> in memory involves scanning the entire memory of a running browser for a specific pattern. But that first requires a browser process to scan.&nbsp;When the target browser is already running, Vidar reuses the existing process. However, it doesn’t read its memory directly. Instead, it creates a fork of it using <code>NtCreateProcessEx</code> with <code>SectionHandle</code> set to <code>NULL</code>, instructing the kernel to clone the address space of the process specified by the <code>ParentProcess</code> as a copy-on-write mapping. The resulting process has no threads and is never resumed – it exists purely as a static memory snapshot.&nbsp;&nbsp;To perform the fork, Vidar first opens a handle to the target browser via <code>OpenProcess</code> with <code>PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | PROCESS_CREATE_PROCESS | PROCESS_VM_READ</code>, falling back to <code>PROCESS_CREATE_PROCESS</code> if the initial call fails. It then passes this handle as the <code>ParentProcess</code> argument to <code>NtCreateProcessEx</code>, requesting <code>PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS</code> on the resulting child. If the fork fails, Vidar falls back to scanning the live browser process directly.&nbsp;

If no target browser process is found running, Vidar creates a new isolated desktop via <code>CreateDesktopA</code>, assigns it a name of the form <code>v20_%d</code> (where <code>%d</code> is replaced with the browser’s index in Vidar’s configuration), and launches the target browser in there. In the case of Vidar version 2.1, the browser is launched with the command line <code>--no-first-run --disable-gpu about:blank</code>, although the exact command line varies across versions. Since modern browsers use a multi-process architecture, there are typically multiple processes matching a given browser. Vidar enumerates all of them (up to 64) and applies the fork-and-scan procedure to each one independently.&nbsp;

With a handle to the forked process in hand, Vidar proceeds to enumerate its virtual memory regions using <code>NtQueryVirtualMemory</code>. It iterates through the entire browser’s address space, collecting regions that match a specific profile: committed (<code>MEM_COMMIT</code>), private (<code>MEM_PRIVATE</code>), and either readable (<code>PAGE_READONLY</code>) or read-write (<code>PAGE_READWRITE</code>). Vidar records up to 4096 memory regions matching these requirements, along with their base addresses and sizes. The actual pattern scanning is then performed in parallel with up to 64 worker threads, depending on the system.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Each thread scans its assigned regions using <code>NtReadVirtualMemory</code>, searching for a 32-byte pattern. When a match is found, the thread reads 8 bytes at offset +32 from the match, interprets them as a pointer, and validates that it points to committed, private, and readable memory (the expected memory state for the encrypted <code>v20_master_key</code>).&nbsp;&nbsp;

This naturally raises the question of what pattern Vidar searches for. The answer is a 32-byte signature: <code>76 32 30 00 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? 03 00 00 00 00 01 ?? ?? ??</code>, where <code>??</code> denotes a wildcard (Vidar uses the byte <code>AA</code> as the wildcard marker in its internal representation). Notably, the first four bytes correspond to the ASCII <code>v20\x00</code>, which is a common prefix used for ABE-related data.&nbsp;&nbsp;

We assess with high confidence that this pattern is intended to match a node structure within Chromium’s <code>Encryptor::KeyRing</code>, the structure that holds the keys used by the <code>Encryptor</code> class. Now, this part is admittedly a bit tricky as it relies on several assumptions we made about the internal memory layout, as well as on implementation-specific representations of various C++ standard library types <code>(std::map</code>, <code>std::string</code>, <code>std::vector</code>, <code>std::optional</code>), which is why we frame this as a high-confidence rather than a certainty.&nbsp;&nbsp;Our reasoning is as follows: <code>KeyRing</code> is <a href="https://github.com/chromium/chromium/blob/cf5d502bcaedb22927e3829a18be1ff6d8b6f598/components/os_crypt/async/common/encryptor.h#L132" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defined</a> as <code>std::map&lt;/*tag=*/std::string, std::optional&lt;Key&gt;&gt;</code>, and <code>std::map</code> is typically implemented as a red-black tree, where each tree node stores three pointers (left child, parent, and right child) followed by the key-value pair. In this case, the pair is in the form of <code>std::pair&lt;/*tag=*/std::string, std::optional&lt;Key&gt;&gt;</code>, meaning that the <code>std::string</code> and the <code>Key</code> object might be laid out consecutively in memory within each node. For a <code>v20_master_key</code> entry, the tag corresponds to the string <code>v20</code>, which at 4 bytes including the null terminator fits within the small string optimization (SSO) buffer and is therefore stored inline rather than heap-allocated. The <code>Key</code> class that immediately follows <a href="https://github.com/chromium/chromium/blob/cf5d502bcaedb22927e3829a18be1ff6d8b6f598/components/os_crypt/async/common/encryptor.h#L93-L98" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contains three member variables</a>: <code>std::optional&lt;mojom::Algorithm&gt; algorithm_</code>, <code>std::vector&lt;uint8_t&gt; key_</code>, and <code>bool encrypted_ = false</code>.&nbsp;Putting it all together and applying it to a concrete example from a browser memory dump, we get the following layout:&nbsp;

Please note that while the exact layout may contain minor inaccuracies on our part, the overall structure should be roughly correct. For easier orientation, the following diagram illustrates how the individual structures are nested within each other:&nbsp;

At this point, it should be clear how the scan pattern maps onto the searched structure. The 32-byte match covers the <code>std::string</code> tag <code>v20\x00</code> and the beginning of the <code>Key</code> object up to and including <code>algorithm_</code>. The pointer at offset +32 from the start of the match then lands precisely on <code>key_.begin</code>, the first member of <code>std::vector&lt;uint8_t&gt;</code> that holds the encrypted <code>v20_master_key</code>.&nbsp;Matches from all threads are collected into a shared buffer and subjected to a majority-voting scheme: candidates consisting mostly of zeroes are discarded, the rest are pairwise-compared, and each is scored by the number of identical copies found. This voting is performed independently for each browser process, producing one best candidate per process.&nbsp;<h2>Decrypting the v20_master_key via APC Injections&nbsp;</h2>For each browser process that produced a match, Vidar now holds a candidate address pointing to a potential encrypted <code>v20_master_key</code>. However, as already noted, since the key is protected with <code>CryptProtectMemory</code> using <code>CRYPTPROTECTMEMORY_SAME_PROCESS</code>, it can only be decrypted by invoking <code>CryptUnprotectMemory</code> from within the browser process itself. Vidar solves this by injecting an Asynchronous Procedure Call (APC) into the live browser process.&nbsp;Vidar supports two APC injection methods, selected based on whether ESET or Bitdefender is detected on the system. If either of these products is present, Vidar uses the first method, which it refers to as “classic” (based on decrypted strings) – it creates a suspended thread in the target browser via <code>CreateRemoteThread</code> (with <code>NtTestAlert</code> as the thread start address and the <code>CREATE_SUSPENDED</code> flag), queues an APC using <code>NtQueueApcThread</code>, resumes the thread, and then waits for it to complete via <code>WaitForSingleObject</code> with a randomized timeout. When the thread resumes, it calls <code>NtTestAlert</code>, which flushes the APC queue and executes the injected routine.&nbsp;

If neither product is detected, it uses the “special” method – it finds an existing thread in the target browser using a combination of <code>CreateToolhelp32Snapshot</code> and <code>Thread32First/Thread32Next</code>, opens it via <code>NtOpenThread</code>, and calls <code>NtQueueApcThreadEx2</code> with the <code>QUEUE_USER_APC_FLAGS_SPECIAL_USER_APC</code> flag. Unlike regular APCs, special user APCs execute immediately. Therefore, the target thread does not need to be in an alertable wait state.&nbsp;

In both cases, the APC routine to be executed is <code>CryptUnprotectMemory</code>, called with the following three arguments: the address of the encrypted <code>v20_master_key</code> candidate, its size (32 bytes), and <code>CRYPTPROTECTMEMORY_SAME_PROCESS</code> for the <code>flags</code> parameter.&nbsp;&nbsp;Since <code>CryptUnprotectMemory</code> decrypts the data in place, once the APC executes, the key is decrypted directly in the live browser's memory. To read it, Vidar creates a second fork of the browser process and reads the key from the same address using <code>NtReadVirtualMemory</code>. It then compares the result against a snapshot of the encrypted key taken from the first fork before the APC call – if the data is unchanged, decryption failed, and Vidar moves on to the next browser process’s candidate.&nbsp;If the data differs, Vidar uses the same second fork to perform an additional verification: it scans the forked process’s memory for the byte sequence <code>v20</code> and, treating each match as a potentially ABE-encrypted entry (cookie, password), attempts AES-256-GCM decryption with the key candidate using <code>BCryptDecrypt</code> (successful GCM tag verification confirms that the key is correct).&nbsp;Whenever the data has changed (indicating that decryption of the key took place), Vidar re-encrypts the key in the browser’s memory by injecting another APC with <code>CryptProtectMemory</code> as the routine, preserving the browser’s state. If no candidate produced a successful decryption (i.e., the data remained unchanged after every APC call), Vidar takes a more aggressive approach: it terminates all browser instances, restarts the browser, and repeats the entire scan-decrypt-verify cycle.&nbsp;By abusing APC injections instead of the more traditional approach of injecting code via <code>NtWriteVirtualMemory</code> that performs the decryption, Vidar trades one suspicious behavior for another. APC injections are arguably less common and may thus slip past some detection systems, though they are still well-known techniques monitored by AV and EDR solutions. But that is the nature of ABE bypasses – each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and that’s exactly why infostealers keep inventing new ones. &nbsp;<h2>Indicator of Compromise (IoC)&nbsp;</h2>459daa809751e73f60fbbe4384a7d1653c36bb06945e4eb3635270924241100a (Vidar 2.1)&nbsp;

A Technical Walkthrough of How Vidar Defeats Application-Bound Encryption

Inside Vidar’s ABE Bypass: From Memory Scanning to APC Injections

You have a summer flight booked. You have seen the headlines about jet fuel shortages, cancelled routes and higher travel costs. Then a text message arrives: your flight has been affected, and you need to click a link to confirm your refund or rebook before the offer expires.&nbsp;That message feels plausible because the situation around it is real. In April, <a href="https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2026-releases/2026-04-17-01/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IATA warned</a> that Europe could start seeing flight cancellations by the end of May if jet fuel shortages materialized. Airlines and governments have since been trying to reassure travelers, while also publishing guidance on passenger rights, refunds and re-routing.&nbsp;&nbsp;That is exactly the kind of confusion scammers like. They do not need to cause the disruption, they only need to arrive at the right moment, with the right brand logo and the right sense of urgency.&nbsp;<h4>Why travel disruption works so well as a scam hook&nbsp;</h4>Most scam messages fail because they arrive out of context. A random refund email from an airline you never use is easy to ignore. A refund message from the airline you are flying with next week, during a period of public travel disruption, is different.&nbsp;The scammer’s job is to make you think: “This could be real.”&nbsp;That can happen in several ways. You might receive a fake cancellation email that links to a refund form. You might search for an airline’s customer service number and land on a fake support page. You might post publicly on social media asking an airline for help, then receive a reply from an account that looks official. Or you might get a WhatsApp message that knows your hotel name, travel dates or booking reference.&nbsp;Each version uses the same pressure point: you are worried about losing money, losing your flight or being stranded.&nbsp;Criminals are already using disruption this way. In March, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/mar/15/travel-scam-airline-accounts-fake-refunds-iran-war-flight-disruption" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Guardian reported</a> that fake airline support accounts were targeting travelers affected by Middle East flight disruption. Some victims were looking for help or refunds, then received replies from accounts pretending to represent airlines. The scam moved into direct messages, where victims were asked for details and sent links that led to money being taken instead of refunded.&nbsp;&nbsp;The jet fuel story gives scammers another pretext. A message can claim that your flight was cancelled, your fare changed, your fuel surcharge failed, or your refund must be claimed within a few hours. None of those claims needs to be true to be effective.&nbsp;<h4>The scam may start before the message arrives&nbsp;</h4>A fake travel message becomes much harder to spot when it includes real information.&nbsp;This is the idea behind <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/insights/research/reservation-hijack-scam" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reservation Hijack scams</a>, a form of targeted phishing where cybercriminals use real booking details to make a message look legitimate. In some cases, attackers may use information exposed through breaches or compromised travel systems. In other cases, they collect details from emails, social media posts, previous leaks or fake customer service interactions. Gen has previously described Reservation Hijack scams as scams that use real hotel booking details to make fraudulent payment or verification requests feel authentic.&nbsp;&nbsp;That distinction matters. A scam message does not need your credit card number to fool you. Knowing your name, your destination, your travel dates and your booking platform may be enough.&nbsp;<h4>What these scams can look like&nbsp;</h4>A travel disruption scam usually does not begin with a strange offer. It begins with something boring and administrative. That is part of the trick.&nbsp;You may see messages like:&nbsp;“Your flight has been cancelled due to fuel supply issues. Claim your refund here.”&nbsp;“Your rebooking is pending. Confirm passenger details within two hours.”&nbsp;“Additional airport tax or fuel surcharge is required to keep your booking.”&nbsp;“Your hotel reservation will be cancelled unless payment is verified.”&nbsp;“Due to high call volume, please continue this request on WhatsApp.”&nbsp;The exact wording changes, but the structure is familiar. There is a problem, a deadline and a link. The message may also move you away from the official channel into SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, direct messages or a phone call. Once that happens, the scammer controls the conversation.&nbsp;There is another detail worth watching: some messages do not ask for money immediately. They start by asking for your booking reference, last name, phone number or one-time password. That can still be dangerous. Those details can help scammers access a booking, impersonate you to customer support, reset an account or make the next message more convincing.&nbsp;<h4>Your real passenger rights can be used against you&nbsp;</h4>If an airline cancels your flight, you may have rights to a refund, re-routing or assistance, depending on where you are travelling and the rules that apply. The European Commission said passengers affected by cancellations continue to have rights to reimbursement, re-routing or return, airport assistance and compensation for last-minute cancellations in relevant circumstances. It also said airlines cannot retroactively add fuel surcharges to already published final ticket prices.&nbsp;&nbsp;That information is useful for travelers, but it is also useful for scammers.&nbsp;A fake refund message becomes more believable when people already know refunds are possible. A fake rebooking link becomes more believable when airlines are genuinely changing schedules. A fake “fuel surcharge” demand becomes more dangerous when fuel prices are in the news, even though legitimate retroactive charges may not be allowed in many cases.&nbsp;This is why the safest route is not to judge the message only by whether the story sounds plausible. During travel disruption, many scam stories will sound plausible. Judge the channel instead.&nbsp;<h4>How to check before you click&nbsp;</h4>Start from the airline or booking platform’s official app or website. Do not use the link in the message. Open the app yourself, type the website address yourself, or use the contact details listed on your original booking confirmation.&nbsp;Check whether the same cancellation, refund or payment request appears inside your account. If the message is real, the airline or hotel should be able to confirm it through an official channel.&nbsp;Be careful with social media support. If an account replies to your public complaint, check whether it is linked from the airline’s official website. Look at the handle carefully. Fake support accounts often copy logos and names, but have small differences in spelling, low follower counts or recently created profiles. The Guardian reported that fraudsters often scan social media for passengers trying to contact legitimate airline accounts and reply to them first, which makes the scam harder to spot.&nbsp;&nbsp;Do not share one-time passwords, payment card details or login credentials with anyone who contacts you unexpectedly. A real airline or hotel does not need your banking OTP to send you a refund.&nbsp;Be especially suspicious of pressure. “You have 30 minutes to claim your refund” is not customer service. It is a tactic.&nbsp;<h4>What to do if you already clicked&nbsp;</h4>If you entered payment details, contact your bank or card provider immediately. Ask whether the transaction can be blocked or reversed, and request a new card if needed.&nbsp;If you shared login details for an airline, hotel or booking platform, change the password from the official site or app. Use a unique password, not one you use elsewhere. Turn on two-factor authentication where it is available.&nbsp;If you shared a one-time password or authentication code, assume the account may have been accessed. Check your booking details, payment methods and recent account activity.&nbsp;Report the scam to the airline, hotel or booking platform being impersonated. If the scam came through social media, report the account as impersonation. If money was taken, report it to the relevant fraud authority in your country.&nbsp;<h4>The real lesson for summer travel&nbsp;</h4>Travel disruption changes how people behave. They search for support numbers in a hurry. They post publicly because customer service queues are long. They accept strange instructions because they are worried about losing a flight or refund.&nbsp;Scammers build around that behavior.&nbsp;The safest assumption is simple: if a message about your flight, hotel or refund creates urgency and gives you a link, pause. Go back to the official source. A real cancellation will still be there when you check through the airline or booking platform. A scammer needs you to act before you do.&nbsp;

Travel disruption gives scammers the one thing they need most: a believable reason to rush you

Your flight was cancelled. Is the refund message real? 

A fake job interview page is easier to trust than a fake ticket shop.In samples reviewed by Gen threat researchers, scammers used branded hiring pages that looked like ordinary recruitment flows: a company logo, a recruiter profile, a 30-minute meeting, and a button to continue with Google or Facebook. There was no attachment to open and no software to install. The credential theft attempt sat inside a step many job applicants already expect: signing in to schedule a call.FIFA is an obvious lure ahead of the 2026 World Cup. On May 22, ESET reported fake FIFA-themed websites that copied ticket and merchandise flows to steal money and personal data. Our researchers later found another FIFA-themed domain, hxxps://fifa-mg[.]shop, which followed a naming pattern not mentioned in that report. Domains like these can be short-lived, often appearing for hours or days before they are blocked, abandoned, or taken down.Our researchers also found a different kind of FIFA lure: hxxps://fifahiring[.]com, a fake hiring page that encouraged users to schedule a call with an alleged FIFA recruiter. When a user tried to register with a personal Gmail address, the page asked for a business email instead. The page was steering victims toward credentials with more value: accounts that could provide access to a company environment.

<h4>The FIFA hiring page did not point to FIFA</h4>The fake page looked believable at first glance.

It used FIFA branding, presented a recruiter identity, and copied parts of the experience users see on legitimate recruiting and scheduling platforms. The recruiter’s name and photo appeared to match a real LinkedIn profile, which made the page feel more credible. For publication, we should keep that person’s identity redacted.The domain did not match FIFA’s real hiring infrastructure. FIFA’s legitimate careers pages are jobs.fifa.com and fifa.pinpointhq.com. The fake page used neither. It also loaded the favicon from the real FIFA recruitment site hosted at pinpointhq.com, giving the page a small visual cue borrowed from the legitimate service.Other signals pointed in the same direction. The domain and certificate were newly created, from May 23. The site used commodity hosting infrastructure, including Vercel and Render, rather than a corporate environment. Those signs are not enough on their own, but they fit the rest of the evidence.The login flow was the clearest part. Credentials were posted to:fifeq2026eqbackeq[.]onrender[.]com/api/loginThe Google sign-in prompt was not a real Google authentication window. It was rendered inside the page itself. The visible controls and links did nothing, and the page did not send the user into a genuine Google sign-in flow. According to the analysis, the only Google asset loaded was the favicon, apparently to make the fake window look familiar.A page can look like it opened a Google login without ever handing control to Google.Researchers also observed hxxps://careers-fifahiring[.]com, which later became inactive, and hxxps://fifajobs[.]com, which showed the same content and was indexed by Google.&nbsp;<h4>The recruitment lure went beyond FIFA</h4>The FIFA page was one version of a wider recruitment phishing pattern. The brand can change. The flow stays familiar: recruiter profile, meeting prompt, business email, fake sign-in.Researchers found similar fake hiring pages abusing other major brands, including Heineken, Hilton, Coca-Cola, Netflix, PepsiCo, Delta,&nbsp;and Spotify. In the Heineken case, the page appeared to use the identity of someone who, according to LinkedIn, really works as a recruiter at the company.

Additional hunting found two other recruitment-themed kits:hxxps://aquent-talent-jobs[.]com hxxps://hays-talent-opportunities[.]comThe Hays-themed version targeted Facebook credentials instead of Google credentials. Researchers assessed that the Aquent and Hays pages shared code, although they differed from the earlier FIFA examples.

This flexibility makes the campaign harder to frame as a single World Cup scam. FIFA provides the timely hook, but the mechanism is recruitment phishing. A scammer can swap the logo, recruiter name, and sign-in provider while keeping the same basic path to the victim’s credentials.<h4>Why fake recruitment pages work</h4>Recruitment gives attackers a clean excuse to ask for things that might otherwise raise suspicion.A candidate expects to click a scheduling link. They expect a recruiter profile. They expect a calendar prompt. In some cases, they may also expect to use a work email, especially for corporate, contractor, or partner-facing roles.The fake login window turns that ordinary flow into credential theft. Users are used to “Continue with Google” and “Continue with Facebook” buttons, but the button itself proves nothing. A genuine authentication flow should take the user to the provider’s domain and controls. A fake page can draw a convincing copy while keeping the victim inside the attacker-controlled site.The business email prompt is also a warning sign. A page that rejects a personal email and asks for a work address may be trying to raise the value of the stolen account.<h4>What job seekers should check before signing in</h4>Start from the company’s official careers page, not from a link in a message, ad, search result, or forwarded post. For FIFA, that means checking jobs.fifa.com or fifa.pinpointhq.com, not trusting a domain because it contains “fifa,” “career,” “hiring,” or “jobs.”Look closely at the domain before entering credentials. Scam pages often add plausible hiring words around a brand name: career, talent, jobs, hiring, portal, or connect. A polished page on a new domain is still a new domain.Treat the sign-in step as the real checkpoint. If a page offers Google or Facebook login, check whether the flow actually opens a real provider-controlled authentication page. A fake window embedded inside the original site, broken controls, inactive links, or a provider logo used only as decoration should stop the process.Use security software that includes web and phishing protection. These tools can block known malicious pages before they load, which is especially useful when scam domains look polished, appear in search results, or are shared through otherwise legitimate channels.<h4>What companies can do</h4>Recruitment pages are public by design, which makes them easy to copy.Security teams should monitor for newly registered domains combining their brand with hiring-related terms. They should also watch for pages that reuse favicons, recruiter photos, job descriptions, and calendar-booking language from legitimate hiring flows.HR and recruiting teams should make the official hiring path easy to verify. Candidates should not have to guess whether a domain is legitimate. A clear careers page, consistent recruiter communication, and warnings about unofficial scheduling links can remove some of the ambiguity attackers rely on.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The fake FIFA hiring page worked because it did not feel unusual. It looked like a normal step in a hiring process.Attackers do not need to invent new behavior when they can copy one people already trust. A branded scheduling page, a recruiter profile, and a familiar sign-in button can be enough to move a victim from interest to credential entry.The decision point is the login. Before entering a work email or password, check the domain, check where the authentication flow really goes, and verify the role through the company’s official careers site. Security software with web and phishing protection adds another layer, especially against short-lived scam pages that may only stay online for hours or days.IOCs:hxxps://fifahiring[.]com hxxps://careers-fifahiring[.]com hxxps://fifajobs[.]com hxxps://fifa-mg[.]shop hxxps://heineken-careers[.]com hxxps://aquent-talent-jobs[.]com hxxps://hays-talent-opportunities[.]com fifeq2026eqbackeq[.]onrender[.]com/api/login

Scammers are copying recruitment and calendar-booking flows to make fake Google and Facebook sign-ins look routine. 

Fake hiring pages abuse FIFA and other major brands to steal work credentials 

Threat Research Team Lead

Since January 2026, we have detected 7.4 million malicious incidents tied to residential proxy traffic, affecting 572,000 users in our telemetry. In this model, the household whose connection is being used is often not the buyer of the traffic. It is the exit point.That is the uncomfortable part of residential proxy networks. A home router, laptop, phone, smart TV, or other always-on device can quietly become part of a commercial network that routes strangers’ internet traffic through ordinary consumer IP addresses. To the websites on the other end, that traffic looks as if it came from a real household, because it did.The technology itself is not inherently malicious. Businesses use residential proxies for market research, ad verification, brand protection, security testing, and services that need to see the web as a real user would. But the same feature that makes these networks useful also makes them attractive for abuse: traffic from a household IP address is hard to block without risking false positives against legitimate users.The problem for consumers is simpler. Many people do not realize their device or connection can be enrolled into this kind of network at all. Some users opt in through pay-for-bandwidth apps. Others are enrolled through “free” VPNs, bundled software development kits inside unrelated apps, or unwanted software that installs proxy components without meaningful consent.Here is how the market works, who pays for it, and what it can cost the household that unknowingly hosts it.<h2>What is a residential proxy</h2>A residential proxy is an internet connection – typically a home laptop, phone, smart TV, or router – that has been enrolled into a third-party network and is being used to route someone else's traffic. To the rest of the internet, that traffic looks like it is coming from an ordinary household IP address assigned by a consumer ISP, not from a datacenter or&nbsp;VPN provider.Residential proxy networks are sold commercially. The model is two-sided: some people pay to tunnel their traffic out through someone else's connection (much like a VPN, except the exit point is a real home), while others get paid to provide those exit endpoints. Some are structured as paid peer-to-peer networks, where any participant's connection can serve as an exit for any other.Buyers pay for access to pools of millions of these "real user" IPs because they are extremely difficult to block, or rather, blocking them carries real consequences: the traffic originates from genuine households, so any block risks shutting out a legitimate user – effectively a false positive.Common buyers include market research firms, price-comparison services, brand-protection vendors, security teams testing their own defenses, and consumer privacy tools. At the abusive end of the market, the same infrastructure used by operators running automated purchasing bots, scrapping campaigns, ad fraud, credential stuffing, phishing and other attacks where hiding the true origin of the traffic matters. Demand is also being shaped by large-scale web scraping, including&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.includesecurity.com/2026/06/the-smart-tv-in-your-livingroom-is-a-node-in-the-aiscraping-economy/">scraping for AI training data</a>. As anti-bot systems become better at identifying traffic from datacenters and known VPN providers, residential IP addresses become more attractive because they look like ordinary users. That does not make every residential proxy user malicious. It does mean consumers may be carrying traffic for businesses and actors they have never heard of.<h2>How consumer devices end up in these networks</h2>There are several ways a home device can become part of a residential proxy network. Some are explicit. Others are easy to miss.The most obvious route is the pay-for-bandwidth model. Apps such as Honeygain, IPRoyal Pawns, and PacketStream pay users to share their internet connection. The user opts in, but they may not understand who will buy access to that connection later, what kind of traffic will pass through it, or what happens if that traffic triggers abuse reports.A second route is the “free” VPN or proxy app. Instead of charging a subscription, the app monetizes the user’s connection by reselling bandwidth. In practice, the user may think they are getting a privacy tool while also becoming infrastructure for other people’s traffic.A third route is through bundled software development kits, or SDKs. A developer adds a third-party component to an otherwise unrelated app, such as a flashlight, wallpaper, game, or utility. The developer gets paid when the app is active. The user sees the host app, not the proxy network behind it.The fourth route is malware or potentially unwanted software. In those cases, the proxy component is installed silently or deceptively, with no meaningful user consent at all.<h2>Why the "consent" is rarely meaningful</h2>Even when consent technically exists, it is often not the kind of consent most people would recognize.The disclosure may be buried in a long terms-of-service document. The wording may be vague, with phrases such as “share your unused bandwidth,” “support the app,” or “join our network.” These phrases do not clearly tell the user that arbitrary third parties may route traffic through the user’s home IP address.There is also the question of downstream use. Users are rarely told who buys access to the network or what those buyers do with it. Their connection could be used for benign market research. It could also be used for scraping, automated account creation, ad fraud, credential stuffing, or phishing infrastructure.The problem gets worse when the proxy component sits inside another app. The host app’s privacy policy may mention a partner SDK by brand name, but that still does not make it clear to a normal user that their device can become a proxy endpoint.Uninstalling the visible app may not always resolve the issue cleanly either, especially when proxy components are installed separately or bundled with other unwanted software.<h2>The risks consumers actually carry</h2>When a household device becomes a residential proxy node, the user takes on risks created by someone else’s traffic.The first risk is attribution. Abusive, fraudulent, or illegal activity routed through the device appears to come from the household’s IP address. ISP abuse notices, platform bans, fraud checks, and law enforcement requests point first to the subscriber, not to the person who bought the proxy traffic.The second risk is performance. Continuous third-party traffic can consume bandwidth, slow the home network, hit data caps, or violate ISP terms of service. The user may only notice that the internet feels slower, a bill is higher, or a service suddenly blocks access.The third risk is security exposure. Proxy clients run persistent background processes and maintain network connections so they can relay traffic. That adds always-on networking software to the device, often with limited visibility for the user.The fourth risk is reputation. A home IP address used for abuse can end up on blocklists used by banks, retailers, streaming services, and online platforms. The result can be account friction, failed logins, extra verification steps, or outright blocking from services the household actually uses.There is also a family angle. A child or another household member may install a free game, VPN, or utility without understanding the consequences. The legal, financial, and reputational risk still lands on the account holder.<h2>What our telemetry shows</h2>Since the beginning of 2026, we have detected 7.4 million malicious traffic incidents associated with residential proxy traffic, affecting 572,000 unique users in our user base.&nbsp; This is not a measurement of the entire residential proxy market. It reflects what we observe in our telemetry: malicious traffic, detections, and related activity affecting protected users. The real footprint is far larger, because residential proxy networks span major consumer platforms and many devices outside our visibility.The activity is global, but it is concentrated in a smaller set of countries. India leads by a wide margin, with roughly 83,000 affected users, followed by Vietnam with 61,000 and Brazil with 39,000. The Philippines (23,000), Poland (18,000), Indonesia (18,000) and Thailand (14,000) form a second tier, with Egypt, Spain, Ukraine, Argentina, Mexico and Italy each accounting for 10,000 to 13,000. The spread across South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern and Southern Europe reflects where the host apps that carry this software are most widely installed.That geographic spread likely reflects a combination of app distribution, local install patterns, user appetite for free or pay-for-bandwidth apps, and the economics of bandwidth resale. It should not be read as a simple ranking of where residential proxy abuse originates.The chart below breaks down the threats we observed in this proxy-related traffic. Two categories dominate: phishing and malicious advertising. Behind them sits a long tail of consumer-facing fraud, including e-shop scams, generic scams, financial scams, and fake-tutorial pages, alongside outright malware such as trojans and other malicious traffic.&nbsp;

In the malicious proxy traffic we observed, scams and malware dominate. The important point for consumers is not only that their connection may be used by someone else. It is that, when abuse happens, their household IP address can be the return address.<h2>What consumers can do</h2>Most people will not identify a residential proxy component by name. But there are practical warning signs.Review “free” VPNs, proxy apps, bandwidth-sharing apps, and utilities from unknown publishers. Check whether they mention bandwidth sharing, peer-to-peer networking, traffic routing, or network participation in their terms. If an app offers payment for leaving your device online, assume your connection may be resold unless the provider explains exactly how traffic is vetted and who can buy access.On phones and computers, remove apps you do not recognize or no longer use. On home routers, check the list of connected devices and look for anything unfamiliar. If your ISP sends abuse notices, websites start blocking you, or your home IP address suddenly fails fraud checks, a proxy component is one possible explanation.Security software can also help by detecting unwanted proxy clients, bundled components, and related malicious activity. But this should not be a guessing game for consumers. Software that turns a household connection into a commercial exit node should be named clearly and made easy to remove.<h2>The takeaway&nbsp;</h2>With residential proxiesthe user’s connection becomes an infrastructure for someone else’s business.The issue is not that residential proxy technology exists. It has legitimate uses. The issue is whether people know when their devices are part of it, understand what kind of traffic may pass through their connection, and have a real choice to opt out.The fix is not to pretend consumers will read every EULA. This software should be named clearly, shown plainly, and made easy to remove before a household connection becomes someone else’s infrastructure.

Your home connection could be routing traffic for strangers. Here's how residential proxy networks work, how devices get enrolled and what our telemetry reveals about the risks for consumers.

Who's Really Using Your Home Internet Connection?

<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec">RetDec</a> is an open-source machine-code decompiler based on LLVM. <a href="https://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/">IDA</a> is a highly capable disassembler widely used in the reverse engineering community. <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin">RetDec IDA plugin</a> brings RetDec to IDA.In the past, we have released several stable builds of RetDec IDA plugin versioned 0.x. Now, we are proud to announce a brand new version <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/releases/tag/v1.0">1.0</a> with the following major enhancements:<ol><li>The plugin is a stand-alone package – a separate RetDec installation is not required.</li><li>The entire user interface has been rewritten.</li><li>The plugin supports arm64 decompilation.</li></ol>See <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/blob/b6fd42fb95832723e7b2d8ca8998e630c931dd6a/CHANGELOG.md">changelog</a> for the complete list of new features, enhancements, and fixes.<h2>1. Stand-alone package</h2>All the past plugin versions required a separate RetDec installation in order to work. The user had to get a correct version of RetDec for the particular plugin version they were using, and configure it properly. Then, the plugin launched the main RetDec Python script whenever it wanted to run a decompilation. This was not very elegant and caused a lot of problems (<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/issues/37">#37</a>, <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/issues/40">#40</a>, <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/issues/58">#58</a>, <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/issues/59">#59</a>, <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/issues/60">#60</a>).

RetDec IDA plugin version 1.0 is the first release using the new RetDec decompilation library. It allows to embed the entire decompilation functionality into the plugin itself. This greatly reduces a room for issues, and increases user comfort.<h2>2. New user interface</h2>The new plugin brings a brand new user interface. We have practically rewritten the whole thing from a hacked-together mess into an elegant solution properly using the available IDA SDK 7.5 mechanisms.If you are interested in how we did it, read our <a href="https://engineering.avast.io/magic-probably-behind-hex-rays/">technical demo article</a>. If you just want to know what it can now do, watch the following videos.

<h2>3. Arm64 support</h2>RetDec has been able to decompile arm64 binaries for quite some time. Now, we bring this functionality to the RetDec IDA plugin as well.<h2>Conclusion</h2>Our <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin/releases/tag/v1.0">IDA plugin v1.0</a> is a big step towards an effective and efficient manual malware analysis with RetDec. However, there are still many things to improve, so stay tuned for further updates.Also, if you don’t use IDA, check out our <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-r2plugin">RetDec Radare2 plugin</a>.

Enhanced RetDec IDA Plugin Released

RetDec IDA plugin v1.0 is out

<a href="https://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/">IDA</a>&nbsp;has become the standard for modern disassemblers used in the reverse engineering community.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hex-rays.com/products/decompiler/">Hex-Rays</a>&nbsp;is a popular plugin to IDA which further simplifies the binary analysis by decompiling native code into a C-like pseudocode. However, Hex-Rays’s strength goes beyond its decompilation quality. It is its overall seamless integration with the interactive disassembler that makes it an invaluable reversing tool.This article demonstrates how to use the extensive, but often not self-evident, functionality provided by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hex-rays.com/products/ida/support/sdkdoc/index.html">IDA SDK</a>&nbsp;in order to put together a plugin with Hex-Rays-like capabilities. In fact, many of the possibilities discussed here are probably not used outside of Hex-Rays itself.

The scope of this article is limited to the GUI-related features within IDA SDK, not the decompilation itself. The article expects the reader has a good knowledge of IDA plugin writing. It focuses on the advanced features it aims to introduce. The basic functionality comprehensible from IDA SDK’s headers or examples may be omitted.Both IDA and IDA SDK used in this article are of version 7.5. The article discusses the fundamental principles to accomplish the given tasks. The complete working example can be found in an associated&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/hexrays-demo">GitHub repository</a>. The repository may be improved or updated to work with further IDA SDK versions. Examples in this article will not!<h2>What can Hex-Rays do?</h2>Hex-Rays is a native IDA plugin written in C++ by the guys behind IDA itself. As such, it perfectly uses IDA SDK to gain the following capabilities:

<ul><li>Syntax highlighted C-like pseudocode in an IDA-native subview.</li></ul>

<ul><li>Displayed content associated with the related disassembly addresses.</li></ul>

<ul><li>Cursor-contex-sensitive actions.</li></ul>

<ul><li>Utilization of IDA’s navigation mechanisms.</li></ul>

<ul><li>Synchronization with IDA disassembly subview.</li></ul>

<h2>Demo</h2>Step by step, we will write a plugin implementing all the interactions listed above.Only the high-level principles are discussed here, see the associated&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/hexrays-demo">GitHub repository</a> for the complete source code.<h2>1. Decompiler</h2>Implementing a decompiler itself is outside the scope of this article. Therefore, we are going to mock it. All we need is an interface capable of decompiling an address into a function:

The demo plugin in the repository is able to decompile only <code>main()</code> and <code>ack()</code> functions from the provided <code>ack.x86.gcc.O0.g.elf</code> binary. Their decompiled code is hardcoded in the decompiler module. This is sufficient for our demonstration purposes.<h2>2. YX coordinates</h2>Before we look into function representation, we need to introduce two important building blocks. The first one being YX coordinates:

These objects will represent a position into an IDA custom viewer. Because we are going to display a source code, we index lines (Y) from 1 and columns (X) from 0.<h2>3. Tokens</h2>Another piece essential to build functions is Token:

It represents one lexical unit in the decompiled source code. Each such unit has a kind (e.g. <code>ID_FNC</code>), value (e.g. <code>main</code>), and an associated disassembly address (e.g. 0x8048577). See <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/wiki/Decompiler-outputs#json-output-file-format">this wiki page</a> for the detailed explanation. There is also a method returning an IDA color tag associated with the Token.<h2>4. Functions</h2>Finally, the representation of a decompiled function:

A function is a list of tokens with a name, start address, and end address. Tokens are indexed by their [starting] YX coordinates. YX coordinates are indexed by their disassembly addresses. Apart from the simple getters, there is a bunch of methods dealing with coordinates, addresses, and lines. These will get quite handy in a moment.<h2>5. Places</h2>Places (i.e. objects derived from abstract <code>place_t</code>) denote locations of data displayed in viewers. IDA SDK defines several classes that could be used to display certain data. <code>simpleline_place_t</code> for string lines, <code>idaplace_t</code> for disassembly locations, <code>hexplace_t</code> for hex dump lines, etc.If none of these is suitable for the user’s application, the plugin author can implement a custom derivation of the class. In our case, we create a <code>demo_place_t</code> class suited for representing locations and displaying tokens of decompiled functions:

YX is the location component, Function is the data component. Using YX, we can easily extract the information needed to implement the <code>place_t</code> interface from the associated Function. <code>demo_place_t</code> is both YX-aware and EA-aware location, something that none of the existing SDK places is.User defined places need to be registered. We use the <code>PCF_EA_CAPABLE</code> flag to indicate our place is EA-aware. This will enable some handy out-of-the-box features later. Also, since SDK 7.5, all new plugins should use <code>PCF_MAKEPLACE_ALLOCATES</code> flag:

Unfortunately, <code>place_t</code> objects are by default considered to be just a line cursors (i.e. Y-sensitive). Special cases that are also X-sensitive need to implement the <code>custom_viewer_adjust_place_t</code> callback and fine-tune the X location. Otherwise, moving the cursor horizontally in a line will not change the X coordinate, nor the corresponding address:

In cases like these, SDK also recommends to implement a callback named <code>custom_viewer_get_place_xcoord_t</code>. It determines if two places are on the same line, and should prevent unnecessary viewer refreshes: &nbsp;

<h2>6. Code viewer</h2>Now we have everything to create a viewer displaying decompiled functions in plugins <code>Context::run()</code> method:

<code>ui_handlers</code> is a set of custom viewer handlers: &nbsp;

We have already discussed <code>cv_adjust_place</code> and <code>cv_get_place_xcoord</code>. The other handlers will be examined in a moment.With the code presented so far we get a plugin capable of displaying colored decompiled functions, reacting on both Y and X movements, and aware of disassembly addresses associated with the shown lexical units.

<h2>7. Place conversion</h2>SDK allows to implement another powerful mechanism on custom places – location conversions. These are used for view synchronization, and if a custom place is <code>PCF_EA_CAPABLE</code> (which our is), then also for address navigation: &nbsp;

Converter’s only job is to set the new place in the destination entry. If such a place is in the newly decompiled function, it is not enough. We also need to switch viewer’s content to this function. We do so in the location changed handler: &nbsp;

Changing the content is as easy as setting a new viewer’s range.With these additions, we can now synchronize our view with IDA disassembly view.

Also, because our view is EA-capable, IDA automatically enables some more features like goto-address navigation (<code>G</code>) or navigation toolbar synchronization.

<h2>8. Contex-sensitive actions</h2>We demonstrate these in two different but similar scenarios. First, we want to decompile and display a new function, if we double click on its call statement. The catch is, we want to do it only for functions and not for other lexical elements:

Second, we want to have different right-click-popup options depending on the kind of token under the cursor: &nbsp;

In both cases, we can ask IDA what is the current viewer place. Using its YX we get the token at these coordinates in the associated function. It is then easy to use the token to make context-sensitive actions.

<h2>9. Navigation</h2>Because we were using the appropriate SDK mechanisms the whole time, we get another great feature right out of the box – navigation.

<h2>10. Synchronization highlighting</h2>Remember that cool green corresponding-line highlighting in the example in Section 7? Well that isn’t an out-of-the-box functionality. We implemented it using new view synchronization features brought by IDA SDK 7.5.It is now possible to query custom viewer’s synchronization group, and interfere in viewer’s line rendering:

Note: This highlighting implementation works a bit differently than the one in Hex-Rays plugin. It collects and highlights all the addresses represented by the current line in our demo viewer. Hex-Rays on the other hand seems to highlight whole continuous blocks delimited by the surrounding lines.

<h2>How to use this article?</h2>Well, however you wish! We have shown how to use advanced IDA SDK features related to places and movements to create a dummy decompilation plugin. Hopefully, the examples in this article, or the full example in our&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/hexrays-demo">GitHub repository</a>, will help you make your plugins more interactive.We will use the mechanisms shown here in our upcoming&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-idaplugin">RetDec IDA plugin</a> v1.0&nbsp;to create a free and open decompilation plugin on par with Hex-Rays. Check out the project if you want to see a complex real-world usage example, or if you just need a free decompiler for IDA or&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-r2plugin">Radare2</a>.

Building Advanced IDA Decompiler Plugins

Magic [probably] behind Hex-Rays

<a href="https://cmake.org/">CMake</a>&nbsp;has become the de facto standard for C/C++ build process management. Unfortunately, using it is seldom straightforward. Especially if you want to do it right (i.e. use&nbsp;modern CMake) in a non-trivial project. Constant stream of new features, evolution of standard practices, loads of existing projects not adopting them, convoluted documentation, lack of usage examples, etc. All of this can make you bang your head against the table asking:&nbsp;What the hell am I supposed to do here?Well, this article doesn’t give you an answer to that question. Instead, it shows you how do we use CMake in a fairly complex project called&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec">RetDec</a>. The article is meant as a practical example of modern CMake usage, not necessarily a guide on how you should do it. Pick and choose what works for you and your project.

<h2>Basics</h2>Before continuing with our specific example, you might wanna have a look at more general resources on modern CMake usage:<ul><li><a href="https://cliutils.gitlab.io/modern-cmake/">An Introduction to Modern CMake</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsXLMQ6WgIk">C++Now 2017: Daniel Pfeifer “Effective CMake”</a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://github.com/boostcon/cppnow_presentations_2017/blob/master/05-19-2017_friday/effective_cmake__daniel_pfeifer__cppnow_05-19-2017.pdf">slides</a>)</li><li><a href="https://pabloariasal.github.io/2018/02/19/its-time-to-do-cmake-right/">It’s Time To Do CMake Right</a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://github.com/pabloariasal/modern-cmake-sample">GitHub</a>)</li><li><a href="https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/community/-/wikis/doc/tutorials/How-to-create-a-ProjectConfig.cmake-file">How to create a ProjectConfig.cmake file</a></li><li><a href="https://philippegroarke.com/posts/2019/funky_cmake/">Funky CMake</a></li></ul><h2>Build system objectives</h2>The RetDec project contains multiple standalone libraries, executables, scripts, and other components. As such, we would like our build system to support the following:<ol><li>Build and install only the selected components and their dependencies (<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/issues/510">#510</a>).</li><li>Make the selected components easily usable in other projects (<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/issues/648">#648</a>).</li><li>Test everything.</li></ol><h2>Project structure</h2>The RetDec repository has the following basic structure:

There is one design decision that we have made that is quite significant to the subject of this article. RetDec builds all its dependencies by itself, apart from the most basic ones that are likely to be a part of a typical OS installation. There are two reasons for it:<ol><li>RetDec often uses modified forks of these projects.</li><li>RetDec tries to minimize its dependencies so it doesn’t bother its users with stuff they need to install, and its users don’t bother the developers when they fail to do so.</li></ol><h2>Intelligent build component selection</h2>If the user doesn’t want to build and install the entire project, they should be able to specify only the desired component(s). For example, the RetDec project contains a library named Fileformat which provides an object-file-format-agnostic representation of binary files. If the user is only interested in parsing such files, there is no point in building and installing the entire RetDec project with its many modules unrelated to the task. Component selection should be as easy as providing a list of required components at the configuration step.There is however one fundamental problem with such a task. Targets’ transitive dependencies. What we would like to achieve is to make all the unnecessary components invisible to CMake, but treat the selected components and their transitive dependencies as if nothing happened. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to achieve this easily using the built-in CMake features like&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/install.html">install()</a>‘s component attribute. In the end, we have decided to use the following custom solution.All the components get an option&nbsp;<code>RETDEC_ENABLE_&lt;component&gt;</code>. By default, all such options are off and option&nbsp;<code>RETDEC_ENABLE_ALL</code> (building the entire repository) is on. If the user sets one or more component options,&nbsp;<code>RETDEC_ENABLE_ALL</code>&nbsp;is disabled and all the transitive dependencies of set options are enabled. All across the project, we use a custom&nbsp;<code>cond_add_subdirectory(dir condition)</code>&nbsp;macro to add directories instead of the traditional&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/add_subdirectory.html">add_subdirectory()</a>. You guessed it, individual enable options are used as conditions in adding their associated components. This way, unselected components become truly invisible to CMake.One downside, from the implementation point of view, is hidden in the statement:&nbsp;all the transitive dependencies of set options are enabled. The problem is that there is no automated way to devise these relations from the information already provided to CMake in the form of target’s link libraries. In fact, the relations are kinda inverted. Whereas&nbsp;<code>target_link_libraries(A B C)</code>&nbsp;says:&nbsp;library&nbsp;A&nbsp;links to (i.e. depends on) libraries&nbsp;B&nbsp;and&nbsp;C, we need to say:&nbsp;enable libraries&nbsp;B&nbsp;and&nbsp;C&nbsp;if library&nbsp;A&nbsp;is enabled. Therefore, we must hardcode these inverted relations into our build system. Fortunately, the ugliness is contained to a single CMake&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/blob/012d44c55411af62c3cb1472703e2523b4f2406a/cmake/options.cmake">script</a>, the build system itself is regularly tested, and the solution does exactly what we want.To demonstrate with an example, let’s look at the implementation for these dependent libraries.

Their link dependencies are as follows: &nbsp;

Whereas their enable dependencies would be (the order matters!): &nbsp;

Now, if the user sets <code>RETDEC_ENABLE_SERDES=ON</code>, also options <code>RETDEC_ENABLE_COMMON</code>, <code>RETDEC_ENABLE_RAPIDJSON</code>, and <code>RETDEC_ENABLE_UTILS</code> are set. If <code>RETDEC_ENABLE_SERDES</code> weren’t set, <code>RETDEC_ENABLE_ALL</code> would make sure all the RetDec modules are enabled (rapidjson isn’t a native RetDec module, but a dependency). For a full implementation, see this CMake <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/blob/012d44c55411af62c3cb1472703e2523b4f2406a/cmake/options.cmake">script</a>.<h2>Modern component build &amp; installation</h2>Based on their CMake-script similarity, we can divide RetDec components into three distinct groups:<ul><li>RetDec dependencies</li><li>RetDec libraries</li><li>RetDec executables</li></ul>Although there are some special cases, CMake scripts within these groups are highly typified. We aim to use modern CMake features to build and install our targets in a way that makes them easily usable by other projects. The objective is to get a relocatable install directory that looks like this:

It should be possible to take this directory, move it around the machine it was created on, or even to a different machine with a compatible environment (OS, system libraries, etc.), and use it by other CMake projects as easily as: &nbsp;

<h2>1. Dependencies</h2>Dependencies are the most complicated of the three. They are a diverse bunch of projects. Some use CMake, others don’t, and even those that do aren’t often easy to work with. The goal here is to abstract all of them in a uniform way which will make it convenient to be used by native RetDec components.We do so by a combination of&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/ExternalProject.html">External Projects</a>&nbsp;(we may move to&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/FetchContent.html">Fetch Content</a>&nbsp;in the future) and&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/add_library.html#interface-libraries">Interface Libraries</a>. The External-project mechanism downloads and builds the 3rd-party project, and the interface library encapsulates it into a CMake target. A representative example is the <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/blob/012d44c55411af62c3cb1472703e2523b4f2406a/deps/capstone/CMakeLists.txt">Capstone</a>&nbsp;component which we will use for further demonstration.Download, build, and get results using External Project:

Encapsulate the results into a&nbsp;<code>retdec::deps::capstone</code>&nbsp;target: &nbsp;

Note the use of <a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html">Generator Expressions</a> <code>$&lt;BUILD_INTERFACE:...&gt;</code> and <code>$&lt;INSTALL_INTERFACE:...&gt;</code>. The former specifies where are the headers and libraries used at build time, the later where they will be after installation. Simple enough? Well, not quite. As it often happens, there is a complication. While <a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/target_include_directories.html">target_include_directories()</a> says: Relative paths are allowed within the install <code>INSTALL_INTERFACE</code> and are interpreted relative to the installation prefix (i.e. they are set properly in the context of installation directory structure), <a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/target_link_libraries.html">target_link_libraries()</a> makes no such statement (although generator expressions are allowed). This prevents us to simply write something like this, which wouldn’t generate a correct path to <code>retdec-capstone-targets.cmake</code>:

Instead, we use a workaround. We say that the installed target links against <code>retdec::deps::capstone-libs</code>, and then create this new target in <code>retdec-capstone-config.cmake</code> which we need to provide anyway. <code>CAPSTONE_LIB_INSTALLED</code> contains an absolute path to the installed Capstone library. The <a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/CMakePackageConfigHelpers.html">configure_package_config_file()</a> macro makes sure that the resulting path is relative and the whole package relocatable:

<code>retdec-capstone-config.cmake</code>&nbsp;then looks like this: &nbsp;

All that is left to do is to actually install all the files:

Inside the RetDec build system, other components can use the Capstone dependency as:

When installed, 3rd-party projects can use it like so: &nbsp;

<h2>2. Libraries</h2>Given the long discussion in the previous section, we already covered pretty much everything needed to build and install a RetDec library component. All the RetDec dependencies are libraries themselves and therefore the procedure for native RetDec libraries is mostly the same – without the extra step of getting and building sources via the External Project mechanism. The process is further simplified by the fact that native components aren’t Interface targets and so we don’t need to manually install (and hack linking of) actual libraries. In fact, installing the target will install and setup the associated library as well. An example for the&nbsp;<code>capstone2llvmir</code>&nbsp;component (full&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/blob/012d44c55411af62c3cb1472703e2523b4f2406a/src/capstone2llvmir/CMakeLists.txt">source</a>):

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for an Interface target and so we couldn’t use it for RetDec’s dependency libraries.A typical RetDec library uses other native and dependency libraries. For the build itself, this is of course expressed by&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/target_link_libraries.html">target_link_libraries()</a>:

At installation, this dependency will be generated for the installed target as well (in target files such as&nbsp;<code>retdec-capstone2llvmir-targets.cmake</code>). It is however not enough to work out of the box. The information which components are needed is there, but the knowledge where these components are is missing. What we need to do is to find them. This happens in config files associated with targets (e.g.&nbsp;<code>retdec-capstone2llvmir-config.cmake</code>). There, we use&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/find_package.html">find_package()</a>&nbsp;to locate the target’s required components. These can be system libraries or other RetDec components. An example for the&nbsp;<code>capstone2llvmir</code>&nbsp;component:

Note: It is generally advised to use the <a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/CMakeFindDependencyMacro.html">find_dependency()</a>&nbsp;macro instead of&nbsp;<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/find_package.html">find_package()</a>&nbsp;in this context. Regrettably, it turns out it doesn’t reliably work for packages with components in some older CMake versions.The <a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/find_package.html#search-procedure">search procedure</a>&nbsp;will locate the main RetDec Config file (<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/blob/012d44c55411af62c3cb1472703e2523b4f2406a/retdec-config.cmake"><code>retdec-config.cmake</code></a>) installed to the same directory as other CMake scripts. It will, in turn, include the Config files of the required components, which will then find their dependencies as well as include components’ Target files containing the necessary usage information:

<h2>3. Executables</h2>Compared to dependencies and native libraries, executable build scripts are truly straightforward. A representative example for the <code>retdec-capstone2llvmir</code> executable can be seen <a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/blob/012d44c55411af62c3cb1472703e2523b4f2406a/src/capstone2llvmirtool/CMakeLists.txt">here</a>.<h2>Testing</h2>There is a considerable room for bugs in all this CMake madness. As everything else in software development, even the build system should be tested. We of course test the complete RetDec build in our&nbsp;<a href="https://retdec-tc.avast.com/project.html?projectId=Retdec&amp;guest=1">Continuous Integration</a>. But what about all the different configurations that&nbsp;<code>RETDEC_ENABLE_&lt;component&gt;</code>&nbsp;options give use? And what about all this installation business? Surely a successful RetDec build doesn’t guarantee that its components will be usable after installation.That is why we have created another&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-build-system-tests">repository</a>&nbsp;specialized for build system testing. Coincidentally, it is also a useful demo on how to use the individual components.It contains a module for every native RetDec component. These are in two flavors. Modules for executable components only enable the build of the said component and check whether it has succeeded. Modules for library components implement a short example using the said component. For example,&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec-build-system-tests/blob/master/capstone2llvmir/capstone2llvmir-example.cpp"><code>capstone2llvmir-example</code></a>&nbsp;uses RetDec’s&nbsp;<code>captone2llvmir</code>&nbsp;library to translate a given assembly instruction into an LLVM IR sequence:

Before every testing module is built, we use the&nbsp;<code>retdec_install()</code>&nbsp;macro to get, build, and install the necessary RetDec components. It uses the already discussed External Project mechanism. To make sure installation is relocatable and doesn’t rely on any build artifacts, we delete the build directory and move the install directory.At the time of writing, over 40 components are being tested in this way. All of them fully fetch their RetDec instance and build the necessary subset of it. For many of them, this means building LLVM (our largest dependency) as well as a good share of other components. This makes the testing process quite a slow endeavor. But there is nothing like peace of mind brought by the knowledge that somewhere out there, there is a powerful server tirelessly compiling all the possible configurations of your project.<h2>Conslusion</h2>We’ve shown how RetDec uses&nbsp;modern CMake&nbsp;to build, install, and expose its components. We’ve also shown how we continuously test every aspect of our build system. Hopefully, this article along with the full RetDec sources will help you to implement your own perfect build system. Create an issue, or even better a pull request, on our&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec">GitHub repository</a>&nbsp;if you have ideas for further improvements.<h2>Disclaimer</h2>CMake is evolving. So is RetDec. This article is not!It is therefore quite possible that by the time you read this, some things in the RetDec repository will be different. Surely for the better, and hopefully not so much that the article becomes completely useless anytime soon. All the source code links used here point at a particular&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec/tree/012d44c55411af62c3cb1472703e2523b4f2406a">commit</a>&nbsp;relevant to this article. The current&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/avast/retdec">master</a>&nbsp;might differ.

Peter Matula

Posts by Peter Matula

RetDec IDA plugin v1.0 is out

Magic [probably] behind Hex-Rays

Modern CMake in RetDec