WinDivert 2.0: Windows Packet Divert

Table of Contents


1. Introduction

WinDivert is a user-mode capture/sniffing/modification/blocking/re-injection package for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows 8. WinDivert can be used to implement user-mode packet filters, packet sniffers, firewalls, NAT, VPNs, tunneling applications, etc., without the need to write kernel-mode code.

The main features of the WinDivert are:

WinDivert provides similar functionality to divert sockets from FreeBSD/MacOS, NETLINK sockets from Linux, and some commercial packages such as WinPkFilter for Windows. WinDivert also supports passive packet sniffing similar to Winpcap.


2. Building

Note that pre-built WinDivert binary distributions are available from the WinDivert website. Most users do not need to build their own version of WinDivert from source.

The source code for WinDivert is available for download at

https://github.com/basil00/Divert
To build the WinDivert drivers from source:
  1. Download and install Windows Driver Kit 7.1.0.
  2. Open a x86 Free Build Environment console.
  3. In the WinDivert package root directory, run the command:
    wddk-build.bat
    
    This will build the install\WDDK\i386\WinDivert32.sys driver.
  4. Next, open a x64 Free Build Environment console.
  5. Re-run the wddk-build.bat command to build the install\WDDK\amd64\WinDivert64.sys driver.

To build the WinDivert user-mode library (WinDivert.dll) and sample programs:

  1. First, build the WinDivert drivers by running the wddk-build.bat command described above.
  2. In Linux (with the MinGW cross-compilers installed) and in the WinDivert package root directory, run the command:
    sh mingw-build.sh
    
    This will the user-mode library and sample programs which will be placed in the install\MINGW subdirectory.

The generated WinDivert.dll/WinDivert.lib files should be compatible with all major compilers, including both MinGW and Visual Studio.

2.1 Driver Signing

If you built your own WinDivert32.sys/WinDivert64.sys drivers, they must be digitally signed before they can be used. See Driver Signing Requirements for Windows for more information.

Note that the pre-built WinDivert32.sys/WinDivert64.sys drivers from the official WinDivert distribution are already digitally signed.


3. Installing

WinDivert does not require any special installation. Depending on your target configuration, simply place the following files in your application's home directory:

Application Type Target Windows Type Files Required
32-bit 32-bit Windows only WinDivert.dll (32-bit version) and WinDivert32.sys
64-bit 64-bit Windows only WinDivert.dll (64-bit version) and WinDivert64.sys
32-bit Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows WinDivert.dll (32-bit version), WinDivert32.sys, and WinDivert64.sys

The WinDivert driver is automatically (and silently) installed on demand whenever your application calls WinDivertOpen(). The calling application must have Administrator privileges.


4. Uninstalling

To uninstall, simply delete the WinDivert.dll, WinDivert32.sys, and WinDivert64.sys files. If already running, the WinDivert driver will be automatically uninstalled during the next machine reboot. The WinDivert driver can also be manually removed by issuing the following commands at the command prompt

sc stop WinDivert2.0
sc delete WinDivert2.0
Note that this is not recommended as it will interfere with other applications that depend on WinDivert.


5. Programming API

To use the WinDivert package, a program/application must:

  1. Include the windivert.h header file
    #include "windivert.h"
    
  2. Link against or dynamically load the WinDivert.dll dynamic link library.

5.1 WINDIVERT_LAYER

typedef enum
{
    WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK = 0,
    WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK_FORWARD,
    WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW,
    WINDIVERT_LAYER_SOCKET,
    WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT,
} WINDIVERT_LAYER, *PWINDIVERT_LAYER;
Remarks

WinDivert supports several layers for diverting or capturing network packets/events. Each layer has its own capabilities, such as the ability to block events or to inject new events, etc. The list of supported WinDivert layers is summarized below:

Layer Capability Description
Block? Inject? Data? PID?
WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK ✔✔✔ Network packets to/from the local machine.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK_FORWARD ✔✔✔ Network packets passing through the local machine.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW ✔ Network flow established/deleted events.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_SOCKET ✔✔ Socket operation events.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT ✔✔ WinDivert handle events.

Here, the layer capabilities are:

The WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK (and WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK_FORWARD) layers allow the user application to capture/block/inject network packets passing to/from (and through) the local machine. These represent the traditional WinDivert layers. Only a single event is supported:

Due to technical limitations, process ID information is not available at these layers.

The WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW layer captures information about network flow establishment/deletion events. Here, a flow represents either (1) a TCP connection, or (2) an implicit flow created by the first sent/received packet for non-TCP traffic, e.g., UDP. The WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW layer supports two events:

Old flows are deleted when the corresponding connection is closed (for TCP), or on a timeout (non-TCP). Flow events can be captured, but never blocked or injected. Process ID information is available at this layer. Due to technical limitations, the WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW layer cannot capture events that occurred before the WinDivert handle was opened.

The WINDIVERT_LAYER_SOCKET layer captures/blocks events that correspond to socket operations, such as:

Socket events can be blocked but not injected. Process ID information is available at this layer. Due to technical limitations, the WINDIVERT_LAYER_SOCKET layer cannot capture events that occurred before the WinDivert handle was opened.

Finally, the WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT layer captures events related to WinDivert itself, such as:

These events can be captured, but not injected nor blocked. Process ID information is available at this layer, meaning that it is possible to determine which (if any) process is using WinDivert. The layer also returns a pseudo packet that encodes the filter string associated with the event. The WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT layer can also capture events that occurred before the handle was opened.

5.2 WINDIVERT_ADDRESS

typedef struct
{
    UINT32 IfIdx;
    UINT32 SubIfIdx;
} WINDIVERT_DATA_NETWORK, *PWINDIVERT_DATA_NETWORK;

typedef struct
{
    UINT32 ProcessId;
    UINT32 LocalAddr[4];
    UINT32 RemoteAddr[4];
    UINT16 LocalPort;
    UINT16 RemotePort;
    UINT8  Protocol;
} WINDIVERT_DATA_FLOW, *PWINDIVERT_DATA_FLOW;

typedef struct
{
    UINT32 ProcessId;
    UINT32 LocalAddr[4];
    UINT32 RemoteAddr[4];
    UINT16 LocalPort;
    UINT16 RemotePort;
    UINT8  Protocol;
} WINDIVERT_DATA_SOCKET, *PWINDIVERT_DATA_SOCKET;

typedef struct
{
    INT64  Timestamp;
    UINT32 ProcessId;
    WINDIVERT_LAYER Layer;
    UINT64 Flags;
    INT16  Priority;
} WINDIVERT_DATA_REFLECT, *PWINDIVERT_DATA_REFLECT;

typedef struct
{
    INT64  Timestamp;
    UINT64 Layer:8;
    UINT64 Event:8;
    UINT64 Outbound:1;
    UINT64 Loopback:1;
    UINT64 Impostor:1;
    UINT64 IPv6:1;
    UINT64 PseudoIPChecksum:1;
    UINT64 PseudoTCPChecksum:1;
    UINT64 PseudoUDPChecksum:1;
    union
    {
        WINDIVERT_DATA_NETWORK Network;
        WINDIVERT_DATA_FLOW    Flow;
        WINDIVERT_DATA_SOCKET  Socket;
        WINDIVERT_DATA_REFLECT Reflect;
    };
} WINDIVERT_ADDRESS, *PWINDIVERT_ADDRESS;

Fields

Remarks
The WINDIVERT_ADDRESS structure represents the "address" of a captured or injected packet. The address includes the packet's timestamp, layer, event, flags, and layer-specific data. All fields are set by WinDivertRecv() when the packet/event is captured. Only some fields are used by WinDivertSend() when a packet is injected.

The Timestamp indicates when the packet/event was first captured by WinDivert. It uses the same clock as QueryPerformanceCounter().

The Layer indicates the layer parameter (WINDIVERT_LAYER_*) that was passed to WinDivertOpen(). It is included in the address to make the structure self-contained.

The Event indicates the layer-specific event (WINDIVERT_EVENT_*) that was captured.

The Outbound flag is set for outbound packets/events, and is cleared for inbound or direction-less packets/events.

The Loopback flag is set for loopback packets. Note that Windows considers any packet originating from, and destined to, the current machine to be a loopback packet, so loopback packets are not limited to localhost addresses. Note that WinDivert considers loopback packets to be outbound only, and will not capture loopback packets on the inbound path.

The Impostor flag is set for impostor packets. An impostor packet is any packet injected by another driver rather than originating from the network or Windows TCP/IP stack. Impostor packets are problematic since they can cause infinite loops, where a packet injected by WinDivertSend() is captured again by WinDivertRecv(). For more information, see WinDivertSend().

The IPv6 flag is set for IPv6 packets/events, and cleared for IPv4 packets/events.

The Pseudo*Checksum flags indicate whether the packet uses full or pseudo checksums. Pseudo checksums are used when IP/TCP/UDP checksum offloading is enabled, meaning that the network hardware calculates/validates checksums rather than the Windows TCP/IP stack. Pseudo checksums may be arbitrary values. Typically, modified packets should preserve the Pseudo*Checksum flags.

The Network.* fields are only valid at the WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK and WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK_FORWARD layers. The Network.IfIdx/Network.SubIfIdx indicate the packet's network adapter (a.k.a. interface) index. These values are ignored for outbound packets.

The Flow.* fields are only valid at the WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW layer. The Flow.ProcessId is the ID of the process that created the flow (for outbound), or receives the flow (for inbound). The (Flow.LocalAddr, Flow.LocalPort, Flow.RemoteAddr, Flow.RemotePort, Flow.Protocol) fields form the network 5-tuple associated with the flow. For IPv4, the Flow.LocalAddr and Flow.RemoteAddr fields will be IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses, e.g. the IPv4 address X.Y.Z.W will be represented by ::ffff:X.Y.Z.W.

The Socket.* fields are only valid at the WINDIVERT_LAYER_SOCKET layer. The Socket.ProcessId is the ID of the process that executed the socket operation. The (Socket.LocalAddr, Socket.LocalPort, Socket.RemoteAddr, Socket.RemotePort, Socket.Protocol) fields form the network 5-tuple associated with the operation. For IPv4, the Socket.LocalAddr and Socket.RemoteAddr fields will be IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses. The WINDIVERT_EVENT_SOCKET_BIND and WINDIVERT_EVENT_SOCKET_LISTEN events will occur before a connection attempt has been made, meaning that the Socket.RemoteAddr and Socket.RemotePort fields for these events will be zero.

The Reflect.* fields are only valid at the WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT layer. The Reflect.ProcessId is the ID of the process that opened the WinDivert handle. The Reflect.Timestamp field is a timestamp indicating when the handle was opened, using the same clock as QueryPerformanceCounter(). The Reflect.Layer, Reflect.Flags, and Reflect.Priority fields correspond to the WinDivertOpen() parameters of the opened handle.

Most address fields are ignored by WinDivertSend(). The exceptions are Outbound (for WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK only), Impostor, PseudoIPChecksum, PseudoTCPChecksum, PseudoUDPChecksum, Network.IfIdx and Network.SubIfIdx.

5.3 WinDivertOpen

HANDLE WinDivertOpen(
    __in const char *filter,
    __in WINDIVERT_LAYER layer,
    __in INT16 priority,
    __in UINT64 flags
);

Parameters

Return Value
A valid WinDivert handle on success, or INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error. Common errors include:

Name Code Description
ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND 2 The driver files WinDivert32.sys or WinDivert64.sys were not found.
ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED 5 The calling application does not have Administrator privileges.
ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER 87 This indicates an invalid packet filter string, layer, priority, or flags.
ERROR_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH 577 The WinDivert32.sys or WinDivert64.sys driver does not have a valid digital signature (see the driver signing requirements above).
ERROR_SERVICE_DOES_NOT_EXIST 1060 The handle was opened with the WINDIVERT_FLAG_NO_INSTALL flag and the WinDivert driver is not already installed.
ERROR_DRIVER_BLOCKED 1275 This error occurs for various reasons, including:
  1. the WinDivert driver is blocked by security software; or
  2. you are using a virtualization environment that does not support drivers.
EPT_S_NOT_REGISTERED 1753 This error occurs when the Base Filtering Engine service has been disabled.

Remarks
Opens a WinDivert handle for the given filter. Unless otherwise specified by flags, any packet or event that matches the filter will be diverted to the handle. Diverted packets/events can be read by the application with WinDivertRecv().

A typical application is only interested in a subset of all network traffic or events. In this case the filter should match as closely as possible to the subset of interest. This avoids unnecessary overheads introduced by diverting packets to the user-mode application. See the filter language section for more information.

The layer of the WinDivert handle is determined by the layer parameter. See WINDIVERT_LAYER for more information. Currently the following layers are supported:

Layer Description
WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK = 0 Network packets to/from the local machine. This is the default layer.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_NETWORK_FORWARD Network packets passing through the local machine.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW Network flow established/deleted events.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_SOCKET Socket operation events.
WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT WinDivert handle events.

Different WinDivert handles can be assigned different priorities by the priority parameter. Packets are diverted to higher priority handles before lower priority handles. Packets injected by a handle are then diverted to the next priority handle, and so on, provided the packet matches the handle's filter. A packet is only diverted once per priority level, so handles should not share priority levels unless they use mutually exclusive filters. Otherwise it is not defined which handle will receive the packet first. Lower priority values represent higher priorities, with -30000 being the highest priority, 0 the middle (and a good default) priority, and 30000 the lowest priority.

Different flags affect how the opened handle behaves. The following flags are supported:

Flag Description
WINDIVERT_FLAG_SNIFF This flag opens the WinDivert handle in packet sniffing mode. In packet sniffing mode the original packet is not dropped-and-diverted (the default) but copied-and-diverted. This mode is useful for implementing packet sniffing tools similar to those applications that currently use Winpcap.
WINDIVERT_FLAG_DROP This flag indicates that the user application does not intend to read matching packets with WinDivertRecv(), instead the packets should be silently dropped. This is useful for implementing simple packet filters using the WinDivert filter language.
WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_ONLY This flags forces the handle into receive only mode which effectively disables WinDivertSend(). This means that it is possible to block/capture packets or events but not inject them.
WINDIVERT_FLAG_READ_ONLY An alias for WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_ONLY.
WINDIVERT_FLAG_SEND_ONLY This flags forces the handle into send only mode which effectively disables WinDivertRecv(). This means that it is possible to inject packets or events, but not block/capture them.
WINDIVERT_FLAG_WRITE_ONLY An alias for WINDIVERT_FLAG_SEND_ONLY.
WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_PARTIAL This flags enables partial receives. By default, if a packet is too big for the buffer passed to WinDivertRecv(), the operation will fail with ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER. This flag silences this error and only copies part of the packet up to the buffer size. The WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_PARTIAL behavior was the default on older (pre-2.0) versions of WinDivert.
WINDIVERT_FLAG_NO_INSTALL This flags causes WinDivertOpen() to fail with ERROR_SERVICE_DOES_NOT_EXIST if the WinDivert driver is not already installed. This flag is useful for querying the WinDivert state using a WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT handle.

Note that any combination of (WINDIVERT_FLAG_SNIFF | WINDIVERT_FLAG_DROP) or (WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_ONLY | WINDIVERT_FLAG_SEND_ONLY) or (WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_PARTIAL | WINDIVERT_FLAG_SEND_ONLY) are considered invalid.

Some layers have mandatory flags, as listed below:

Layer Required Flags
WINDIVERT_LAYER_FLOW WINDIVERT_FLAG_SNIFF | WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_ONLY
WINDIVERT_LAYER_SOCKET WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_ONLY
WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT WINDIVERT_FLAG_SNIFF | WINDIVERT_FLAG_RECV_ONLY

5.4 WinDivertRecv

BOOL WinDivertRecv(
    __in HANDLE handle,
    __out PVOID pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_ADDRESS pAddr,
    __out_opt UINT *recvLen
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if a packet was successfully received, or FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Receives a diverted packet that matched the filter passed to WinDivertOpen(). The received packet is guaranteed to match the filter.

The contents of the captured packet are written to pPacket. If the captured packet is larger than the pPacket buffer length, then the packet will be truncated. If recvLen is non-NULL, then the total number of bytes written to pPacket is placed there. If non-NULL, the address of the captured packet is written to pAddr.

An application should call WinDivertRecv() as soon as possible after a successful call to WinDivertOpen(). When a WinDivert handle is open, any packet that matches the filter will be captured and queued until handled by WinDivertRecv(). Packets are not queued indefinitely, and if not handled in a timely manner, any captured packet may be dropped. The amount of time a packet is queued can be controlled with the WinDivertSetParam() function.

Captured packets are guaranteed to have correct checksums, or pseudo checksums, as indicated by the Pseudo*Checksum flags from the WINDIVERT_ADDRESS.

WinDivertRecv() should not be used on any WinDivert handle created with the WINDIVERT_FLAG_DROP set.

5.5 WinDivertRecvEx

BOOL WinDivertRecvEx(
    __in HANDLE handle,
    __out PVOID pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __in UINT64 flags,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_ADDRESS pAddr,
    __out_opt UINT *recvLen,
    __inout_opt LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if a packet was successfully received, or FALSE otherwise. Use GetLastError() to get the reason. The error code ERROR_IO_PENDING indicates that the overlapped operation has been successfully initiated and that completion will be indicated at a later time. All other codes indicate an error.

Remarks
This function is equivalent to WinDivertRecv() except that it supports overlapped I/O via the lpOverlapped parameter.

5.6 WinDivertSend

BOOL WinDivertSend(
    __in HANDLE handle,
    __in PVOID pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __in PWINDIVERT_ADDRESS pAddr,
    __out_opt UINT *sendLen
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if a packet was successfully injected, or FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Common errors include:

Name Code Description
ERROR_HOST_UNREACHABLE 1232 This error occurs when an impostor packet (with pAddr->Impostor set to 1) is injected and the ip.TTL or ipv6.HopLimit field goes to zero. This is a defense of last resort against infinite loops caused by impostor packets.

Note that a return value of TRUE does not necessarily mean the packet was accepted by the Windows TCP/IP stack. For better error messages (at the cost of performance), pass the WINDIVERT_FLAG_DEBUG flag to WinDivertOpen().

Remarks
Injects a packet into the network stack. The injected packet may be one received from WinDivertRecv(), or a modified version, or a completely new packet. Injected packets can be captured and diverted again by other WinDivert handles with lower priorities.

The pAddr parameter determines how the packet is injected. If the Direction field is WINDIVERT_DIRECTION_OUTBOUND, the packet is injected into the outbound path (i.e. a packet leaving this computer). Else, if Direction is WINDIVERT_DIRECTION_INBOUND, the packet is injected into the inbound path (i.e. a packet arriving at this computer). Note that the Direction field, and not the IP addresses in the injected packet, is used to determine the packet's direction.

For packets injected into the inbound path, the IfIdx and SubIfIdx fields are assumed to contain valid interface numbers. These may be retrieved from WinDivertRecv() (for packet modification), or from the IP Helper API.

For outbound injected packets, the IfIdx and SubIfIdx fields are currently ignored and may be arbitrary values. Injecting an inbound packet on the outbound path may work (for some types of packets), however this should be considered "undocumented" behavior, and may be changed in the future.

For impostor packets (where the Impostor field of pAddr set to 1) WinDivert will automatically decrement the ip.TTL or ipv6.HopLimit fields for the injected packet. This is to mitigate infinite loops since WinDivert cannot prevent impostor packets from being captured again by WinDivertRecv().

Injected packets must have the correct checksums. Correct checksums can be calculated using the WinDivertHelperCalcChecksums() function. Note that packets returned by WinDivertRecv() are guaranteed to have correct checksums.

When pseudo checksums are used, the WinDivertSend() function may modify the contents of the memory pointed to by the pPacket and pAddr parameters. Thus, it is important that this memory is not read-only.

5.7 WinDivertSendEx

BOOL WinDivertSendEx(
    __in HANDLE handle,
    __in PVOID pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __in UINT64 flags,
    __in PWINDIVERT_ADDRESS pAddr,
    __out_opt UINT *sendLen,
    __inout_opt LPOVERLAPPED lpOverlapped
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if a packet was successfully injected, or FALSE otherwise. Use GetLastError() to get the reason. The error code ERROR_IO_PENDING indicates that the overlapped operation has been successfully initiated and that completion will be indicated at a later time. All other codes indicate an error.

Remarks
This function is equivalent to WinDivertSend() except that it supports overlapped I/O via the lpOverlapped parameter.

5.8 WinDivertShutdown

BOOL WinDivertShutdown(
    __in HANDLE handle,
    __in WINDIVERT_SHUTDOWN how);
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
This operation causes all or part of a WinDivert handle to be shut down. The possible values for how are:

How Description
WINDIVERT_SHUTDOWN_RECV Stop new packets being queued for WinDivertRecv().
WINDIVERT_SHUTDOWN_SEND Stop new packets being injected via WinDivertSend().
WINDIVERT_SHUTDOWN_BOTH Equivalent to (WINDIVERT_SHUTDOWN_RECV | WINDIVERT_SHUTDOWN_SEND).

Note that previously queued packets can still be received after WINDIVERT_SHUTDOWN_RECV. When the packet queue is empty, WinDivertRecv() will fail with ERROR_NO_DATA.

5.9 WinDivertClose

BOOL WinDivertClose(
    __in HANDLE handle
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Closes a WinDivert handle created by WinDivertOpen().

5.10 WinDivertSetParam

BOOL WinDivertSetParam(
    __in HANDLE handle,
    __in WINDIVERT_PARAM param,
    __in UINT64 value);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Sets a WinDivert parameter. Currently, the following WinDivert parameters are defined.

Parameter Description
WINDIVERT_PARAM_QUEUE_LEN Sets the maximum length of the packet queue for WinDivertRecv(). Currently the default value is 2048, the minimum is 16, and the maximum is 16384.
WINDIVERT_PARAM_QUEUE_TIME Sets the minimum time, in milliseconds, a packet can be queued before it is automatically dropped. Packets cannot be queued indefinitely, and ideally, packets should be processed by the application as soon as is possible. Note that this sets the minimum time a packet can be queued before it can be dropped. The actual time may be exceed this value. Currently the default value is 1000 (1s), the minimum is 20 (20ms), and the maximum is 8000 (8s).
WINDIVERT_PARAM_QUEUE_SIZE Sets the maximum number of bytes that can be stored in the packet queue for WinDivertRecv(). Currently the default value is 4194304 (4MB), the minimum is 65535 (64KB), and the maximum is 33554432 (32MB).

5.11 WinDivertGetParam

BOOL WinDivertGetParam(
    __in HANDLE handle,
    __in WINDIVERT_PARAM param,
    __out UINT64 *pValue);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Gets a WinDivert parameter. See WinDivertSetParam() for the list of parameters.


6. Helper Programming API

The WinDivert helper programming API is a collection of definitions and functions designed to make writing WinDivert applications easier. The use of the helper API is completely optional.

6.1 WINDIVERT_IPHDR

typedef struct
{
    UINT8  HdrLength:4;
    UINT8  Version:4;
    UINT8  TOS;
    UINT16 Length;
    UINT16 Id;
    UINT16 ...;
    UINT8  TTL;
    UINT8  Protocol;
    UINT16 Checksum;
    UINT32 SrcAddr;
    UINT32 DstAddr;
} WINDIVERT_IPHDR, *PWINDIVERT_IPHDR;

Fields
See
here for more information.

Remarks
IPv4 header definition.

The following fields can only be get/set using the following macro definitions:

6.2 WINDIVERT_IPV6HDR

typedef struct
{
    UINT32 Version:4;
    UINT32 ...:28;
    UINT16 Length;
    UINT8  NextHdr;
    UINT8  HopLimit;
    UINT32 SrcAddr[4];
    UINT32 DstAddr[4];
} WINDIVERT_IPV6HDR, *PWINDIVERT_IPV6HDR;
Fields
See here for more information.

Remarks
IPv6 header definition.

The following fields can only be get/set using the following macro definitions:

6.3 WINDIVERT_ICMPHDR

typedef struct
{
    UINT8  Type;
    UINT8  Code;
    UINT16 Checksum;
    UINT32 Body;
} WINDIVERT_ICMPHDR, *PWINDIVERT_ICMPHDR;
Fields
See here for more information.

Remarks
ICMP header definition.

6.4 WINDIVERT_ICMPV6HDR

typedef struct
{
    UINT8  Type;
    UINT8  Code;
    UINT16 Checksum;
    UINT32 Body;
} WINDIVERT_ICMPV6HDR, *PWINDIVERT_ICMPV6HDR;
Fields
See here for more information.

Remarks
ICMPv6 header definition.

6.5 WINDIVERT_TCPHDR

typedef struct
{
    UINT16 SrcPort;
    UINT16 DstPort;
    UINT32 SeqNum;
    UINT32 AckNum;
    UINT16 Reserved1:4;
    UINT16 HdrLength:4;
    UINT16 Fin:1;
    UINT16 Syn:1;
    UINT16 Rst:1;
    UINT16 Psh:1;
    UINT16 Ack:1;
    UINT16 Urg:1;
    UINT16 Reserved2:2;
    UINT16 Window;
    UINT16 Checksum;
    UINT16 UrgPtr;
} WINDIVERT_TCPHDR, *PWINDIVERT_TCPHDR;
Fields
See here for more information.

Remarks
TCP header definition.

6.6 WINDIVERT_UDPHDR

typedef struct
{
    UINT16 SrcPort;
    UINT16 DstPort;
    UINT16 Length;
    UINT16 Checksum;
} WINDIVERT_UDPHDR, *PWINDIVERT_UDPHDR;
Fields
See here for more information.

Remarks
UDP header definition.

6.7 WinDivertHelperParsePacket

BOOL WinDivertHelperParsePacket(
    __in PVOID pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_IPHDR *ppIpHdr,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_IPV6HDR *ppIpv6Hdr,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_ICMPHDR *ppIcmpHdr,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_ICMPV6HDR *ppIcmpv6Hdr,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_TCPHDR *ppTcpHdr,
    __out_opt PWINDIVERT_UDPHDR *ppUdpHdr,
    __out_opt PVOID *ppData,
    __out_opt UINT *pDataLen
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if all expected (non-NULL) outputs were present, FALSE otherwise. Note that FALSE may sometimes be a legitimate return value, e.g., when both ppIpHdr and ppIpv6Hdr are non-NULL.

Remarks
Parses a raw packet (e.g. from WinDivertRecv()) into the various packet headers and/or payloads that may or may not be present.

Each output parameter may be NULL or non-NULL. For non-NULL parameters, this function will write the pointer to the corresponding header/payload if it exists, or will write NULL otherwise. Any non-NULL pointer that is returned

  1. Is a pointer into the original pPacket packet; and
  2. There is enough space in pPacket to fit the header.

This function does not do any verification of the header/payload contents beyond checking the header length and any other minimal information required for parsing.

6.8 WinDivertHelperHashPacket

UINT64 WinDivertHelperHashPacket(
    __in const VOID *pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __in UINT64 seed = 0
);

Parameters

Return Value
A 64bit hash value.

Remarks
Calculates a 64bit hash value of the given packet. Note that the hash function depends on the packet's IP and transport headers only, and not the payload of the packet. That said, a weak dependency on the payload will exist if the TCP/UDP checksums are valid. The hash function itself is based on the xxHash algorithm and is not cryptographic.

The optional seed value is also incorporated into the hash.

6.9 WinDivertHelperParseIPv4Address

BOOL WinDivertHelperParseIPv4Address(
    __in const char *addrStr,
    __out_opt UINT32 *pAddr
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Parses an IPv4 address stored in addrStr. If pAddr is non-NULL, the result is be stored in host-byte-order. Use WinDivertHelperHtonl() to convert the result into network-byte-order.

6.10 WinDivertHelperParseIPv6Address

BOOL WinDivertHelperParseIPv6Address(
    __in const char *addrStr,
    __out_opt UINT32 *pAddr
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Parses an IPv6 address stored in addrStr. If pAddr is non-NULL, the buffer assumed to be large enough to hold a 16-byte IPv6 address. The result is stored in host-byte-order. Use WinDivertHelperHtonIpv6Address() to convert the result into network-byte-order.

6.11 WinDivertHelperParseIPv4Address

BOOL WinDivertHelperFormatIPv4Address(
    __in UINT32 addr,
    __out char *buffer,
    __in UINT bufLen
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Convert an IPv4 address into a string.

6.12 WinDivertHelperParseIPv6Address

BOOL WinDivertHelperFormatIPv6Address(
    __in const UINT32 *pAddr,
    __out char *buffer,
    __in UINT bufLen
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Convert an IPv6 address into a string.

6.13 WinDivertHelperCalcChecksums

UINT WinDivertHelperCalcChecksums(
    __inout PVOID pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __in_opt PWINDIVERT_ADDRESS pAddr,
    __in UINT64 flags
);

Parameters

Return Value
The number of checksums calculated.

Remarks
(Re)calculates the checksum for any IPv4/ICMP/ICMPv6/TCP/UDP checksum present in the given packet. Individual checksum calculations may be disabled via the appropriate flag. Typically this function should be invoked on a modified packet before it is injected with WinDivertSend().

By default this function will calculate each checksum from scratch, even if the existing checksum is correct. This may be inefficient for some applications. For better performance, incremental checksum calculations should be used instead (not provided by this API).

If pAddr is non-NULL, this function will avoid calculating the full checksum if the Pseudo*Checksum flag is set in the corresponding WINDIVERT_ADDRESS structure. The address structure should be the same as the one passed to WinDivertSend() in order to (re)inject the packet.

6.14 WinDivertHelperCompileFilter

BOOL WinDivertHelperCompileFilter(
    __in const char *filter,
    __in WINDIVERT_LAYER layer,
    __out_opt char *object,
    __in UINT objLen,
    __out_opt const char **errorStr,
    __out_opt UINT *errorPos
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if the packet filter compilation is successful, FALSE otherwise.

Remarks
Compiles the given packet filter string into a compact object representation that is optionally stored in object if non-NULL. The object representation is a valid null terminated C string, but is otherwise opaque and not meant to be human readable. The object representation can be passed to all WinDivert functions, such as WinDivertOpen(), in place of the human-readable filter string equivalent.

The compilation operation will succeed if the given filter string is valid with respect to the filter language. Otherwise, if the filter is invalid, then a human readable description of the error is returned by errorStr (if non-NULL), and the error's position is returned by errorPos (if non-NULL).

Note that all strings returned through errorStr are global static objects, and therefore do not need to be deallocated.

6.15 WinDivertHelperEvalFilter

BOOL WinDivertHelperEvalFilter(
    __in const char *filter,
    __in PVOID pPacket,
    __in UINT packetLen,
    __in PWINDIVERT_ADDRESS pAddr
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if the packet matches the filter string, FALSE otherwise.

Remarks
Evaluates the given packet against the given packet filter string. This function returns TRUE if the packet matches, and returns FALSE otherwise.

This function also returns FALSE if an error occurs, in which case GetLastError() can be used to get the reason for the error. Otherwise, if no error occurred, GetLastError() will return 0.

Note that this function is relatively slow since the packet filter string will be (re)compiled for each call. This overhead can be minimized by pre-compiling the filter string into the object representation using the WinDivertHelperCompileFilter() function.

6.16 WinDivertHelperFormatFilter

BOOL WinDivertHelperEvalFilter(
    __in const char *filter,
    __in WINDIVERT_LAYER layer,
    __out char *buffer,
    __in UINT bufLen
);

Parameters

Return Value
TRUE if successful, FALSE if an error occurred. Use GetLastError() to get the reason for the error.

Remarks
Formats the given filter string or object. This function is mainly useful for decompiling the filter object representation back into a human-readable filter string representation. One application is the WINDIVERT_LAYER_REFLECT layer, where a pseudo packet containing a filter object is returned by WinDivertRecv().

6.17 WinDivertHelperNtoh*

UINT16 WinDivertHelperNtohs(
    __in UINT16 x
);
UINT32 WinDivertHelperNtohl(
    __in UINT32 x
);
UINT64 WinDivertHelperNtohll(
    __in UINT64 x
);
void WinDivertHelperNtohIpv6Address(
    __in const UINT *inAddr,
    __out UINT *outAddr
);
Parameters

Return Value
The output value in host byte order.

Remarks
Converts a value/IPv6-address from network to host byte-order.

6.18 WinDivertHelperHton*

UINT16 WinDivertHelperHtons(
    __in UINT16 x
);
UINT32 WinDivertHelperHtonl(
    __in UINT32 x
);
UINT64 WinDivertHelperHtonll(
    __in UINT64 x
);
void WinDivertHelperHtonIpv6Address(
    __in const UINT *inAddr,
    __out UINT *outAddr
);
Parameters

Return Value
The output value in network byte order.

Remarks
Converts a value/IPv6-address from host to network byte-order.


7. Filter Language

The WinDivertOpen() function accepts a string containing a filter expression. Only packets that match the filter expression are diverted. Any other packet is allowed to continue as per normal.

Filter allows an application to select only the subset of traffic that is of interest. For example, a URL blacklist filter would only be interested in packets that contain URLs. This could be achieved via the following filter.

HANDLE handle = WinDivertOpen(
    "outbound and "
    "tcp.PayloadLength > 0 and "
    "tcp.DstPort == 80", 0, 0, 0);
This filter specifies that we should only divert traffic that is
  1. outbound;
  2. contains a non-empty payload; and
  3. has TCP destination port 80 (i.e. HTTP web traffic).

A filter is a Boolean expression of the form:

        FILTER := true | false | FILTER and FILTER | FILTER or FILTER | (FILTER) | (FILTER? FILTER: FILTER) | TEST
C-style syntax &&, ||, and ! may also be used instead of and, or, and not, respectively. C-style conditional operators are also supported, where the expression (A? B: C) evaluates to: A test is of the following form:
        TEST := TEST0 | not TEST0
        TEST0 := FIELD | FIELD op VAL
where op is one of the following:

OperatorDescription
== or =Equal
!=Not equal
<Less-than
>Greater-than
<=Less-than-or-equal
>=Greater-than-or-equal

and VAL is a decimal number, hexadecimal number, or IP address. If the "op VAL" is missing, the test is implicitly "FIELD != 0".

Finally a field is some property about the packet. The possible fields are:

FieldLayerDescription
NETWORKFORWARDFLOW   SOCKET REFLECT
zero✔✔✔✔✔The value zero
event✔✔✔✔✔The event
outbound✔✔Is outbound?
inbound✔✔Is inbound?
ifIdx✔✔Interface index
subIfIdx✔✔Sub-interface index
loopback✔✔✔Is loopback packet?
impostor✔✔Is impostor packet?
processId✔✔✔Process ID
random8✔✔8-bit random number
random16✔✔16-bit random number
random32✔✔32-bit random number
layer✔The handle's layer
priority✔The handle's priority
packet[i]✔✔The ith 8-bit word of the packet
packet16[i]✔✔The ith 16-bit word of the packet
packet32[i]✔✔The ith 32-bit word of the packet
ip✔✔✔✔Is IPv4?
ipv6✔✔✔✔Is IPv6?
icmp✔✔✔✔Is ICMP?
icmpv6✔✔✔✔Is ICMPv6?
tcp✔✔✔✔Is TCP?
udp✔✔✔✔Is UDP?
protocol✔✔✔The protocol
localAddr✔✔✔The local address
localPort✔✔✔The local port
remoteAddr✔✔✔The remote address
remotePort✔✔✔The remote port
ip.*✔✔IPv4 fields (see WINDIVERT_IPHDR)
ipv6.*✔✔IPv6 fields (see WINDIVERT_IPV6HDR)
icmp.*✔✔ICMP fields (see WINDIVERT_ICMPHDR)
icmpv6.*✔✔ICMPV6 fields (see WINDIVERT_ICMPV6HDR)
tcp.*✔✔TCP fields (see WINDIVERT_TCPHDR)
tcp.PayloadLength✔✔The TCP payload length
tcp.Payload[i]✔✔The ith 8-bit word of the TCP payload
tcp.Payload16[i]✔✔The ith 16-bit word of the TCP payload
tcp.Payload32[i]✔✔The ith 32-bit word of the TCP payload
udp.*✔✔UDP fields (see WINDIVERT_UDPHDR)
udp.PayloadLength✔✔The UDP payload length
udp.Payload[i]✔✔The ith 8-bit word of the UDP payload
udp.Payload16[i]✔✔The ith 16-bit word of the UDP payload
udp.Payload32[i]✔✔The ith 32-bit word of the UDP payload

A test also fails if the field is missing. E.g. the test "tcp.DstPort == 80" will fail if the packet does not contain a TCP header.

7.1 Filter Examples

  1. Divert all outbound (non-local) web traffic:
    HANDLE handle = WinDivertOpen(
            "outbound and !loopback and "
            "(tcp.DstPort == 80 or udp.DstPort == 53)",
            0, 0, 0
        );
    
  2. Divert all inbound TCP SYNs:
    HANDLE handle = WinDivertOpen(
            "inbound and "
            "tcp.Syn",
            0, 0, 0
        );
    
  3. Divert all traffic:
    HANDLE handle = WinDivertOpen("true", 0, 0, 0);
    
  4. Divert no traffic:
    HANDLE handle = WinDivertOpen("false", 0, 0, 0);
    
    This is useful for packet injection.

7.2 Filter Usage

The purpose of the filter is to help applications select the subset of all network traffic that the application is interested in. Ideally the filter should be

  1. As short as possible; and
  2. As selective as possible.
For some applications these two objectives can conflict. That is, a selective filter is not short, and a short filter is not selective. For such applications the developer should experiment with different filter configurations and carefully measure the performance impact to find the optimal solution.


8. Samples

Some samples have been provided to demonstrate the WinDivert API. The sample programs are:

The samples are intended for educational purposes only, and are not fully-featured applications.

The following basic template for a WinDivert application. The basic idea is to open a WinDivert handle, then enter a capture-modify-reinject loop:

    HANDLE handle;          // WinDivert handle
    WINDIVERT_ADDRESS addr; // Packet address
    char packet[MAXBUF];    // Packet buffer
    UINT packetLen;

    handle = WinDivertOpen("...", 0, 0, 0);   // Open some filter
    if (handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
    {
        // Handle error
        exit(1);
    }

    // Main capture-modify-inject loop:
    while (TRUE)
    {
        if (!WinDivertRecv(handle, packet, sizeof(packet), &addr, &packetLen))
        {
            // Handle recv error
            continue;
        }

        // Modify packet.

        WinDivertHelperCalcChecksums(packet, packetLen, &addr, 0);
        if (!WinDivertSend(handle, packet, packetLen, &addr, NULL))
        {
            // Handle send error
            continue;
        }
    }
For applications that do not need to modify the packet, a better approach is to open the WinDivert handle with the WINDIVERT_FLAG_SNIFF flag set, and not re-inject the packet with WinDivertSend(). See the netdump.exe sample program for an example of this usage.


9. Known Issues

There are some limitations to the WinDivert package. They are


10. License

WinDivert is dual-licensed, and is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 3 or the GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 2. Please see the notices below:

LGPL version 3:

WinDivert is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

GPL version 2:

WinDivert is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.