Hyper-V Signature

Hyper-V has a signature value of "Hv#1" in eax if leaf 0x40000001 is provided to CPUID.

Technique Identifier

Evasion Categories

Sandbox Evasion

Code Snippets

/**
 * Hyper-V has a signature value of "Hv#1" in eax if leaf `0x40000001` is provided to CPUID.
 *
 * This code snippet is from the VMAware project at https://github.com/kernelwernel/VMAware
 * 
 * detection made by kernelwernel, 2024
 */

#if (defined(_MSC_VER) || defined(_WIN32) || defined(_WIN64) || defined(__MINGW32__))
#define MSVC 1
#define LINUX 0
#elif (defined(__linux__))
#define MSVC 0
#define LINUX 1
#else
#define MSVC 0
#define LINUX 0
#endif

#if (LINUX)
#include <cpuid.h>
#elif (MSVC)
#include <intrin.h>
#endif

#include <cstdint>
#include <thread>
#include <array>
#include <iostream>


bool hyperv_sig() {
    auto cpuid_eax = [](
        std::uint32_t& eax, 
        const std::uint32_t leaf
    ) -> void {
#if (MSVC)
        std::int32_t x[4]{};
        __cpuid((std::int32_t*)x, static_cast<std::int32_t>(leaf));
        eax = static_cast<std::uint32_t>(x[0]);
#elif (LINUX)
        std::uint32_t unused = 0;
        __get_cpuid(leaf, &eax, &unused, &unused, &unused);
#else
        return;
#endif
    };

    std::uint32_t eax = 0;
    cpuid_eax(eax, 0x40000001);

    constexpr std::uint32_t signature = 0x31237648; // "Hv#1"

    return (eax == signature);
}

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hyper-V's signature found? = " << (hyperv_sig() ? "Yes, very likely a Hyper-V VM" : "No, could be baremetal") << "\n";
    return 0;
}

About Author Open Snippet

Author: kernelwernel / Target Platform: Windows

Contributor

kernelwernel

Additional Resources

External Links

The resources provided below are associated links that will give you even more detailed information and research on current evasion technique. It is important to note that, while these resources may be helpful, it is important to exercise caution when following external links. As always, be careful when clicking on links from unknown sources, as they may lead to malicious content.

Created

August 17, 2024

Last Revised

March 24, 2026