RDTSC

The Read-Time-Stamp-Counter (RDTSC) instruction can be used by malware to determine how quicky the processor executes the program's instructions. It returns the count of the number of ticks since the last system reboot as a 64-bit value placed into EDX:EAX.

It will execute RDTSC twice and then calculate the difference between low order values and check it with CMP condition. If the difference lays below 0FFFh no debugger is found if it is above or equal, then application is debugged.

Technique Identifier

U0126

Technique Tag

RDTSC

Evasion Categories

Anti-Debugging

Code Snippets

Description

Original source code available here: https://github.com/LordNoteworthy/al-khaser/blob/master/al-khaser/TimingAttacks/timing.cpp

/*
RDSTC is a famous x86 instruction to count the number of cycle since reset.
This can be used to detect the VM. Thanks to Forcepoint for blog article.
*/

#define LODWORD(_qw)    ((DWORD)(_qw))
BOOL rdtsc_diff_locky()
{
	ULONGLONG tsc1;
	ULONGLONG tsc2;
	ULONGLONG tsc3;
	DWORD i = 0;

	// Try this 10 times in case of small fluctuations
	for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
	{
		tsc1 = __rdtsc();

		// Waste some cycles - should be faster than CloseHandle on bare metal
		GetProcessHeap();

		tsc2 = __rdtsc();

		// Waste some cycles - slightly longer than GetProcessHeap() on bare metal
		CloseHandle(0);

		tsc3 = __rdtsc();

		// Did it take at least 10 times more CPU cycles to perform CloseHandle than it took to perform GetProcessHeap()?
		if ((LODWORD(tsc3) - LODWORD(tsc2)) / (LODWORD(tsc2) - LODWORD(tsc1)) >= 10)
			return FALSE;
	}

	// We consistently saw a small ratio of difference between GetProcessHeap and CloseHandle execution times
	// so we're probably in a VM!
	return TRUE;
}

About Author Open Snippet

Author: External / Target Platform: Windows

Detection Rules

rule Detect_RDTSC: AntiDebug AntiSandbox{
    meta: 
        description = "Detect RDTSC as anti-debug and anti-sandbox"
        author = "Unprotect"
        comment = "Experimental rule"
    strings:
        $1 = { 0F 31 }
    condition:   
       uint16(0) == 0x5A4D and filesize < 1000KB and $1
}

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.

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Created

March 18, 2019

Last Revised

March 24, 2026