A Bridge Too Far — by James Forshaw

#IICSG2018 Conference Deep-Tech Track

Day 2 (25 May 2018)

10.30am—11.15am

@ Stamford Ballroom (Olivia)

[#IICSG2018 Conference Full Schedule]

Abstract

In Windows 10 Anniversary Edition, Microsoft introduced Desktop Bridge, originally known as Project Centennial. This technology allows normal Win32 applications to be converted to run as self-contained Windows Store applications, redirecting file and registry access to allow the application to easily be uninstalled leaving no remaining footprint. To support Desktop Bridge, Microsoft had to change a number of different parts of the OS including the Kernel and system services.

This presentation will be an in-depth look at how Desktop Bridge works as well as a look at some of the bugs I've discovered in the various components which make up the technology.

About James Forshaw

James Forshaw is a security researcher in Google's Project Zero. He has been involved with computer hardware and software security for over 10 years looking at a range of different platforms and applications. With a great interest in logical vulnerabilities, he's been listed as the #1 researcher for MSRC, as well as being a Pwn2Own and Microsoft Mitigation Bypass bounty winner. He has spoken at a number of security conferences including Black Hat USA, CanSecWest, Bluehat, HITB, and Infiltrate. He's also the author of the book "Attacking Network Protocols" available from NoStarchPress.