Windows Defender Antivirus scan from C# [AccessViolation exception]

Question

We are writing a code to do on-demand scan of a file from C# using Windows Defender APIs.

        [DllImport(@"C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpClient.dll")]
        public static extern int WDStatus(out bool pfEnabled);

        [DllImport(@"C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpClient.dll")]
        public static extern int MpManagerOpen(uint dwReserved, out IntPtr phMpHandle);

        [DllImport(@"C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpClient.dll")]
        public static extern int MpScanStart(IntPtr hMpHandle, uint ScanType, uint dwScanOptions, IntPtr pScanResources, IntPtr pCallbackInfo, out IntPtr phScanHandle);

        [DllImport(@"C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpClient.dll")]
        public static extern int MpHandleClose(IntPtr hMpHandle);

        private void DoDefenderScan_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                bool pfEnabled;
                int result = WDStatus(out pfEnabled); //Returns the defender status - It's working properly.
                ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(result, VSConstants.S_OK);

                IntPtr phMpHandle;
                uint dwReserved = 0;

                IntPtr phScanHandle;

                MpManagerOpen(dwReserved, out phMpHandle); //Opens Defender and returns the handle in phMpHandle. 

                tagMPRESOURCE_INFO mpResourceInfo = new tagMPRESOURCE_INFO();
                mpResourceInfo.Path = "eicar.com";
                mpResourceInfo.Scheme = "file";
                mpResourceInfo.Class = IntPtr.Zero;

                tagMPRESOURCE_INFO[] pResourceList = new tagMPRESOURCE_INFO[1];
                pResourceList.SetValue(mpResourceInfo, 0);

                tagMPSCAN_RESOURCES scanResource = new tagMPSCAN_RESOURCES();
                scanResource.dwResourceCount = 1;
                scanResource.pResourceList = pResourceList;
                IntPtr resourcePointer = StructToPtr(scanResource);

                result = MpScanStart(phMpHandle, 3, 0, resourcePointer, IntPtr.Zero, out phScanHandle); **//Getting Access violation exception here**.

                MpHandleClose(phMpHandle);
                MpHandleClose(phScanHandle);
                Marshal.FreeHGlobal(resourcePointer);
            }
            catch (Exception)
            { }
        }

And the structure is defined here.

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
    public struct tagMPSCAN_RESOURCES
    {
        public uint dwResourceCount;

        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, ArraySubType = UnmanagedType.Struct, SizeConst = 1)]
        public tagMPRESOURCE_INFO[] pResourceList;
    }

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
    public struct tagMPRESOURCE_INFO
    {
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]
        public String Scheme;

        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]
        public String Path;

         public IntPtr Class;
    }

    public class MPRESOURCE_CLASS
    {
        public uint Value;
    }

    private static IntPtr StructToPtr(object obj)
    {
        var ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(obj));
        Marshal.StructureToPtr(obj, ptr, false);
        return ptr;
    }

The code is written based on the documentation available at

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vs/alm/dn920144(v=vs.85).aspx

We are getting this exception

Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.

at

result = MpScanStart(phMpHandle, 3, 0, resourcePointer, IntPtr.Zero, out phScanHandle); **//Getting Access violation exception here**.

What could be the problem? Is the format of struct is correct?

P.S - No information about MPRESOURCE_CLASS is available in msdn.

I'm not sure, whether this line of code is correct.

 mpResourceInfo.Class = IntPtr.Zero;

Update:

Quick scan is working fine with this code:

result = MpScanStart(phMpHandle, 1, 0, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero, out phScanHandle);

Defender logs in the event viewer [ Applications and Services Logs-Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational ] as

Windows Defender scan has started.
Scan ID:{CDC2AC0D-7648-4313-851C-4D8B7B5EB5CD}
Scan Type:AntiSpyware
Scan Parameters:Quick Scan

Answer 1

I couldn't identify the problem here. So I ended up with Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) available starting from Windows 10.

I have written a sample C# code here.
One thing I found is AMSI requires Windows defender/any antivirus to be turned on to verify the file passed to API. But triggering a scan through MpClient.dllwill trigger a defender scan even if defender is turned off.

Also ensure your project targets x64 platform.

public enum AMSI_RESULT
    {
        AMSI_RESULT_CLEAN = 0,
        AMSI_RESULT_NOT_DETECTED = 1,
        AMSI_RESULT_DETECTED = 32768
    }

[DllImport("Amsi.dll", EntryPoint = "AmsiInitialize", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static extern int AmsiInitialize([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]string appName, out IntPtr amsiContext);

[DllImport("Amsi.dll", EntryPoint = "AmsiUninitialize", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static extern void AmsiUninitialize(IntPtr amsiContext);

[DllImport("Amsi.dll", EntryPoint = "AmsiOpenSession", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static extern int AmsiOpenSession(IntPtr amsiContext, out IntPtr session);

[DllImport("Amsi.dll", EntryPoint = "AmsiCloseSession", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static extern void AmsiCloseSession(IntPtr amsiContext, IntPtr session);

[DllImport("Amsi.dll", EntryPoint = "AmsiScanString", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static extern int AmsiScanString(IntPtr amsiContext, [InAttribute()] [MarshalAsAttribute(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]string @string, [InAttribute()] [MarshalAsAttribute(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]string contentName, IntPtr session, out AMSI_RESULT result);
[DllImport("Amsi.dll", EntryPoint = "AmsiScanBuffer", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static extern int AmsiScanBuffer(IntPtr amsiContext, [In] [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray)] byte[] buffer, uint length, [In()] [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string contentName, IntPtr session, out AMSI_RESULT result);

//This method apparently exists on MSDN but not in AMSI.dll (version 4.9.10586.0)
[DllImport("Amsi.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public static extern bool AmsiResultIsMalware(AMSI_RESULT result);

private void CallAntimalwareScanInterface()
{
    IntPtr amsiContext;
    IntPtr session;
    AMSI_RESULT result = 0;
    int returnValue;

    returnValue = AmsiInitialize("VirusScanAPI", out amsiContext); //appName is the name of the application consuming the Amsi.dll. Here my project name is VirusScanAPI.   
    returnValue = AmsiOpenSession(amsiContext, out session);
    returnValue = AmsiScanString(amsiContext, @"X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*", "EICAR", session, out result); //I've used EICAR test string.   
    AmsiCloseSession(amsiContext, session);
    AmsiUninitialize(amsiContext);
}