Invisible Threats, Visible Solutions.

Misaligned Opcode Exception Waterfall (MOEW)

3‑Stage SEH Waterfall PoC (Benign, x86/Wow64)

TL;DR: This PoC demonstrates a 3‑stage Structured Exception Handling (SEH) cascade caused by deliberate misaligned execution into raw byte blobs whose first valid instruction is a faulting div reg with a zero divisor.
Each exception stage installs the next SEH handler, triggers a new misaligned divide‑by‑zero, and executes a benign observable payload before restoring the original SEH chain and terminating cleanly.

1. Overview

MOEW (Misaligned Opcode Exception Waterfall) is a defensive research sample that showcases controlled exception‑driven multi‑stage execution on x86/Wow64 Windows. It demonstrates:

Manual SEH chain manipulation via fs:[0]
Deliberate misalignment into hand‑crafted byte sequences (blob1, blob2, blob3)
Stage‑chained SEH handlers
Multi‑fault recursion through:
- KiUserExceptionDispatcher
- RtlDispatchException
- Custom user‑mode handlers
A clean termination path that restores the original SEH chain

All payloads are benign:

Stage 1: Launches Notepad
Stage 2: Writes a marker file to %TEMP%
Final Stage: Launches Calculator

The PoC is intentionally defanged. No data is encrypted, modified, or destroyed.

2. Features

Fully deterministic SEH recursion through 3 staged handlers
Naked x86 byte blobs with multiple valid decode paths
Misaligned div at controlled offsets (ECX/EDX/EBX = 0)
Per‑stage global counter for logging and tracing
Complete restoration of the original SEH head (ORIGINAL_SEH)
Rust nightly + inline assembly + naked functions
Benign but visible “payloads” for telemetry and debugger testing

3. Environment Requirements

3.1 Architecture

x86 (32‑bit) only
Compiled with the MSVC toolchain
Runs on 64‑bit Windows under WoW64 as well

3.2 Rust Nightly

The PoC uses nightly‑only features:

#![feature(asm_experimental_arch)]
#![feature(naked_functions)]

Install the necessary components:

rustup toolchain install nightly
rustup target add i686-pc-windows-msvc --toolchain nightly

3.3 Disable SAFESEH

Since the PoC installs custom SEH handlers that are not present in the SAFESEH table, the linker must be instructed to disable SAFESEH validation.

Create .cargo/config.toml:

[target.i686-pc-windows-msvc]
rustflags = [
  "-C", "link-arg=/SAFESEH:NO",
]

4. Build Instructions

Build the binary:

cargo +nightly build --target i686-pc-windows-msvc --release

Output is located at:

target\i686-pc-windows-msvc\release\seh_waterfall.exe

5. Running the PoC

Execute:

seh_waterfall.exe

Expected control‑flow:

Stage 0 → misaligned blob1 → Stage 1 handler
Stage 1 → misaligned blob2 → Stage 2 handler
Stage 2 → misaligned blob3 → Final handler
Final  → restore SEH       → exit

Visible artifacts:

notepad.exe launches (Stage 1)
%TEMP%\moew_stage2.txt is created (Stage 2)
calc.exe launches (Final handler)

6. Technical Breakdown

6.1 SEH Record Layout

On 32‑bit Windows, SEH records form a linked list stored at fs:[0]:

#[repr(C)]
struct SehRec {
    next: *mut SehRec,
    handler: usize,
}

Each handler uses the standard SEH signature:

extern "system" fn handler(
    record: *mut u8,
    frame: *mut u8,
    context: *mut u8,
    dispatcher: *mut u8,
) -> i32

6.2 Global State

static STAGE_COUNTER: AtomicU32 = AtomicU32::new(0);
static mut ORIGINAL_SEH: *mut SehRec = std::ptr::null_mut();

Used to:

Count handler recursion depth
Restore the original SEH head at the end of the waterfall

7. Stage Logic

Stage 0 — Initial Frame Setup

Save fs:[0] as ORIGINAL_SEH.
Build an SEH record pointing to the Stage 1 handler.
Overwrite fs:[0] with this new record.
Misalign into blob1 + 5, which decodes as div ecx (after setting ECX = 0).

Stage 1 — First SEH Handler

Launch notepad.exe.
Build an SEH record for the Stage 2 handler and chain it on top.
Misalign into blob2 + 3 → div edx (with EDX = 0).

Stage 2 — Second SEH Handler

Write %TEMP%\moew_stage2.txt.
Install the Final handler on the SEH chain.
Misalign into blob3 + 3 → div ebx (with EBX = 0).

Final Handler — Termination

Launch calc.exe.
Restore ORIGINAL_SEH into fs:[0].
Exit the process cleanly via process::exit(0).

8. Misaligned Fault Blobs

8.1 `blob1`

#[unsafe(naked)]
pub extern "C" fn blob1() {
    naked_asm! {
        ".byte 0xB8, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00", // mov eax, 0x10
        ".byte 0xF7, 0xF1",                   // div ecx
        ".byte 0xC3",                         // ret
        ".byte 0x90, 0x90, 0x90",             // nop padding
    }
}

Aligned decode: mov eax, 0x10; div ecx; ret
Misaligned at +5: div ecx (with ECX = 0 → #DE)

8.2 `blob2`

#[unsafe(naked)]
pub extern "C" fn blob2() {
    naked_asm! {
        ".byte 0x55",                         // push ebp
        ".byte 0x8B, 0xEC",                   // mov ebp, esp
        ".byte 0xF7, 0xF2",                   // div edx
        ".byte 0xC3",                         // ret
        ".byte 0x90, 0x90, 0x90",             // nop padding
    }
}

Aligned decode: push ebp; mov ebp, esp; div edx; ret
Misaligned at +3: div edx (with EDX = 0 → #DE)

8.3 `blob3`

#[unsafe(naked)]
pub extern "C" fn blob3() {
    naked_asm! {
        ".byte 0x53",                         // push ebx
        ".byte 0x8B, 0xD8",                   // mov ebx, eax
        ".byte 0xF7, 0xF3",                   // div ebx
        ".byte 0xC3",                         // ret
        ".byte 0x90, 0x90, 0x90",             // nop padding
    }
}

Aligned decode: push ebx; mov ebx, eax; div ebx; ret
Misaligned at +3: div ebx (with EBX = 0 → #DE)

9. Exception Pipeline

Each faulted stage re‑enters the Windows user‑mode exception pipeline:

KiUserExceptionDispatcher
    → RtlDispatchException
        → SEH chain walk (fs:[0])
            → MOEW handler

Typical debugger view:

seh_waterfall!blobX+offset
ntdll!KiUserExceptionDispatcher
ntdll!RtlDispatchException
seh_waterfall!stageN_handler

The waterfall is entirely driven by genuine hardware faults and SEH dispatch; no synthetic or fake exceptions are used.

10. Marker File Output

The file written in Stage 2 looks like:

MOEW Stage 2 Marker
-------------------
This file was written by the Stage 2 SEH handler
as a benign demonstration payload.

Its presence in %TEMP% serves as a simple, observable proof that Stage 2 executed via the SEH chain.

11. Safety Notes

PoC is benign and for defensive research only.
No persistence, registry modification, or encryption.
All exceptions are caught and handled.
The original SEH chain is restored before termination.

12. Future Enhancements

Potential extensions include:

YARA and behavioral rules for SEH waterfalls and recursive exception patterns.
ETW / EDR signal mapping for staged hardware faults.
Graphical diagrams of SEH chain evolution over time.
Side‑by‑side comparison with real‑world malware exception chains.

13. Full Source Code

The complete PoC implementation is available in this repository (see src/main.rs).

14. License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

15. Real Sample vs. PoC: SEH Corruption, Waterfall Behavior, and Telemetry Impact

15.1 Behavior of the Real Sample: Intentional SEH Corruption

The real‑world MOEW sample that inspired this PoC did not restore fs:[0] at the end of execution.
Instead, its final stage:

Overwrote the SEH head (fs:[0]) with either NULL or a pointer to invalid memory.
Triggered one last misaligned exception, guaranteeing a hardware fault.
Forced Windows to walk an invalid or truncated SEH chain.
Caused RtlDispatchException to encounter an invalid handler pointer.
Resulted in a crash where:
- EIP/RIP pointed into non‑image memory (heap, stack, or anonymous region).
- The faulting module could not be resolved and appeared as unknown.
- The faulting path also appeared as unknown.
Produced Windows Error Reporting (WER) signatures that were not attributable to any loaded module.
Logged Event Viewer Application Error events with meaningless fault offsets.
Produced EDR telemetry dominated by:
- repeated KiUserExceptionDispatcher calls,
- recursive SEH transitions,
- a final anomalous crash lacking module attribution.

This destructive SEH corruption step serves the sample’s primary anti‑forensic purpose:
erasing the causal chain and producing an un‑attributable terminal crash.

15.2 Behavior of the PoC: Clean Restoration of SEH Without Terminal Crash

Unlike the real sample, this PoC:

Captures the original SEH head during Stage 0:

asm!("mov {old}, fs:[0]", old = out(reg) old_head);
ORIGINAL_SEH = old_head;

Restores the original SEH head in the final handler:

asm!("mov fs:[0], {p}", p = in(reg) ORIGINAL_SEH);

Terminates cleanly via process::exit(0) instead of triggering an unhandled fault.

As a result, the PoC:

Does not leave a corrupted SEH chain.
Does not produce a final unhandled exception.
Does not generate:
- WER crash reports,
- Event Viewer Application Error 1000 entries,
- “faulting module: unknown” signatures,
- invalid exception dispositions,
- or dangling SEH records.

However—critically—the PoC does not eliminate MOEW’s exception‑driven telemetry degradation behavior.

15.3 Telemetry Degradation Shared by Both Real Sample and PoC

The PoC absolutely does degrade telemetry in the same fundamental way:

It deliberately triggers multiple misaligned hardware faults.
It produces multiple first‑chance exceptions in rapid succession.

It forces Windows to repeatedly execute:

KiUserExceptionDispatcher
RtlDispatchException
    → custom handler
    → misaligned blob
    → hardware fault

It generates non‑linear, exception‑dominant call stacks.
It distorts control‑flow reconstruction in debuggers and EDR by routing execution through:
- recursive SEH handlers,
- misaligned decode paths,
- non‑function‑aligned addresses,
- partial instruction boundaries.

Thus the PoC faithfully reproduces:

the recursive waterfall pattern,
the exception‑driven state machine,
the misaligned opcode entry behavior,
and the control‑flow obfuscation,

…while avoiding the destructive final crash.

This makes the PoC ideal for instrumentation and research without invoking the full anti‑forensic payload.

15.4 Why the PoC Is Suitable for Defensive Research

Because the PoC preserves the overall behavior of MOEW minus the SEH corruption crash, it is:

Safe to run repeatedly in lab environments.
Deterministic and stable.
Suitable for:
- EDR pipeline analysis,
- telemetry research,
- incident‑response training,
- debugger behavior testing,
- side‑by‑side comparison with real malicious samples.

The PoC models the exception waterfall (the essence of MOEW) while removing the final destructive signature.
It demonstrates that telemetry degradation arises not only from SEH corruption, but from the exception‑driven control‑flow model itself.

15.5 Summary

Behavior	Real MOEW Sample	PoC Implementation
Misaligned opcode waterfall	✔	✔
Recursive SEH‑driven state machine	✔	✔
Dominant exception‑dispatch call stacks	✔	✔
Telemetry / stack‑trace degradation	✔	✔
Intentional SEH corruption	✔	❌
Dangling or invalid SEH pointers	✔	❌
Final unhandled exception	✔	❌
WER “unknown module” crash	✔	❌
Clean restoration of `fs:[0]`	❌	✔
Clean termination	❌	✔

This section formalizes the behavioral differences while keeping the PoC’s purpose clear:
demonstrate the MOEW waterfall in a safe, research‑friendly form without the anti‑forensic final crash.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
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debug		debug
detections		detections
screenshots		screenshots
src		src
whitepaper		whitepaper
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
README.md		README.md

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