ghost/README.md

Ghost

Cross-platform process injection detection framework written in Rust.

Overview

Ghost is a security framework for detecting process injection, memory manipulation, and suspicious process behavior. It provides memory analysis, behavioral monitoring, and MITRE ATT&CK technique mapping for security research and defensive purposes.

Features

• Memory Analysis: RWX region detection, shellcode pattern scanning, memory protection analysis
• MITRE ATT&CK Mapping: Technique identification using the ATT&CK framework
• Cross-platform Support:
  • Windows: Process enumeration, memory reading (ReadProcessMemory), thread analysis (NtQueryInformationThread), inline hook detection, PE header validation
  • Linux: Process enumeration via procfs, memory region analysis (/proc/[pid]/maps), thread state monitoring, LD_PRELOAD detection, ptrace detection
  • macOS: Process enumeration via sysctl/KERN_PROC_ALL
• Real-time Monitoring: Continuous scanning with configurable intervals
• Threat Intelligence: IOC storage and correlation framework

Architecture

ghost/
├── ghost-core/     # Core detection engine and platform abstractions
├── ghost-cli/      # Command-line interface
├── ghost-tui/      # Interactive terminal UI (Ratatui-based)
├── examples/       # Configuration examples
└── docs/           # Technical documentation

Core Modules

• Detection Engine (detection.rs): Orchestrates analysis and threat scoring
• Memory Analysis (memory.rs): Platform-specific memory enumeration and reading
• Process Enumeration (process.rs): Cross-platform process listing
• Thread Analysis (thread.rs): Thread enumeration with start address and creation time
• Hook Detection (hooks.rs): Inline hook detection via JMP pattern analysis
• MITRE ATT&CK (mitre.rs): Technique mapping and categorization
• Configuration (config.rs): TOML-based configuration with validation

Supported Detection Techniques

Process Injection (T1055)

• RWX memory region detection
• Private executable memory analysis
• Thread count anomaly detection
• Inline hook detection (JMP patches on ntdll.dll, kernel32.dll, user32.dll)
• LD_PRELOAD and LD_LIBRARY_PATH detection (Linux)
• Ptrace injection detection (Linux)
• SetWindowsHookEx hook enumeration
• Thread hijacking indicators (T1055.003)
• Process hollowing detection with PE header validation (T1055.012)

Memory Analysis

• Memory protection flags (R/W/X combinations)
• Region type classification (IMAGE, PRIVATE, MAPPED, HEAP, STACK)
• Small executable region detection (shellcode indicators)
• Memory region size anomalies

Behavioral Monitoring

• Thread count changes from baseline
• New thread creation detection
• Process parent-child relationships
• System process identification

Installation

Requirements

• Rust 1.70+ (stable)
• Platform-specific dependencies:
  • Windows: MSVC Build Tools, Windows SDK
  • Linux: GCC/Clang, libelf-dev (for eBPF)
  • macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools

Building

# Release build (recommended)
cargo build --release

# Development build
cargo build

# Run tests
cargo test

# Generate documentation
cargo doc --open

Usage

CLI

# Basic scan
cargo run --bin ghost-cli

# Target specific process
cargo run --bin ghost-cli -- --pid 1234

# JSON output
cargo run --bin ghost-cli -- --format json

# Load custom configuration
cargo run --bin ghost-cli -- --config examples/ghost.toml

# Show MITRE ATT&CK statistics
cargo run --bin ghost-cli -- --mitre-stats

# Verbose output with debug logging
cargo run --bin ghost-cli -- -v -d

TUI (Terminal User Interface)

cargo run --bin ghost-tui

The TUI provides:

• Real-time process monitoring dashboard
• Detection history with threat levels
• System statistics and performance metrics
• Interactive process exploration
• Live system logs

Keyboard Controls:

• Tab: Switch between views
• Up/Down: Navigate lists
• Enter: Select item
• R: Force refresh
• C: Clear history
• Q: Quit

Configuration

Create a configuration file (see examples/ghost.toml):

shellcode_detection = true
hollowing_detection = true
hook_detection = true
confidence_threshold = 0.3
skip_system_processes = true
max_memory_scan_size = 104857600  # 100MB
thread_analysis_enabled = true
evasion_detection = true
mitre_mapping = true
scan_interval_ms = 2000

Exit Codes

• 0: Clean scan, no suspicious activity
• 1: Suspicious processes found
• 2: Error occurred during scanning

Performance

Ghost is designed for low-overhead monitoring:

• Memory enumeration: <100ms per process
• Thread analysis: <50ms per process
• Detection engine: <10ms per analysis
• Full system scan: <5s for 200 processes

Documentation

• Detection Methods
• MITRE ATT&CK Coverage
• Performance Guide
• Research Framework
• Build Instructions
• Contributing Guidelines
• Security Policy

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on:

• Code style (rustfmt, clippy)
• Performance requirements
• Testing standards
• Pull request process

Security

Please review SECURITY.md for:

• Responsible disclosure policy
• Security considerations
• Threat model

Platform Support Matrix

Feature	Windows	Linux	macOS
Process Enumeration	CreateToolhelp32Snapshot	/proc filesystem	sysctl KERN_PROC_ALL
Memory Enumeration	VirtualQueryEx	/proc/[pid]/maps	Not implemented
Memory Reading	ReadProcessMemory	/proc/[pid]/mem	Not implemented
Thread Enumeration	Thread32First/Next	/proc/[pid]/task	Not implemented
Thread Start Address	NtQueryInformationThread	/proc/[pid]/task/[tid]/syscall	Not implemented
Thread Creation Time	GetThreadTimes	/proc/[pid]/task/[tid]/stat	Not implemented
Hook Detection	Inline JMP pattern scanning	LD_PRELOAD/ptrace detection	Not applicable
PE Header Validation	Full PE validation	Not applicable	Not applicable
Process Path	GetProcessImageFileNameW	/proc/[pid]/exe	proc_pidpath

Status

Active development. Core detection engine functional with cross-platform abstractions. Windows support most complete. Linux support via procfs. macOS has process enumeration but limited memory/thread analysis.

Known Limitations

• macOS memory enumeration and reading not yet implemented (requires vm_read and mach_vm_region)
• Windows SetWindowsHookEx chain enumeration requires parsing undocumented USER32.dll structures
• Shellcode pattern matching currently uses heuristics (no actual signature database)
• No kernel-level monitoring (all userspace APIs)