7 ms·

Hvdos, a simple DOS emulator based on the OS X Hypervisor.framework

84 points by LaSombra 12y ago

TsukasaUjiie 12y ago
Sounds like an interesting framework, my quick search didn't unearth any docs for it though? The only reference on Apples website is "we added this to 10.10"
- arthurfm 12y ago
  https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/releasenotes/MacOSX/WhatsNewInOSX/Articles/MacOSX10_10.html https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/releasenotes/MacOSX/... > Hypervisor (Hypervisor.framework). The Hypervisor framework allows virtualization vendors to build virtualization solutions on top of OS X without needing to deploy third-party kernel extensions (KEXTs). Included is a lightweight hypervisor that enables virtualization of the host CPUs.
- gilgoomesh 12y ago
  As with all Mac frameworks, the full headers are embedded in the framework and the headers all have full Javadoc-style API documentation for each function. Since there are only 24 functions in the whole framework, that's probably enough to work it out.
  - TsukasaUjiie 12y ago
    If only I had my mbp with be to read them :'(
    - 0x006A 12y ago
      You can find a copy of the MacOSX-SDKs on github, i.e. https://github.com/phracker/MacOSX-SDKs/blob/8519a1de16d8384359a4f39f1bd82d751b7cfecd/MacOSX10.10.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/Hypervisor.framework/Versions/A/Headers/ https://github.com/phracker/MacOSX-SDKs/blob/8519a1de16d8384...
      - TsukasaUjiie 12y ago
        thanks
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
thought_alarm 12y ago
A nice write-up that explains this code is available here: http://www.pagetable.com/?p=764 http://www.pagetable.com/?p=764
blinkingled 12y ago
Gotta wonder who this is targeted towards - the likes of VMWare definitely not as I am sure they've spent a lot of time optimizing everything that happens in kernel space inside their drivers and surely there's more than 24 API calls they'll need inside the kernel to get something like Fusion working. Maybe Apple is planning to provide a built-in hypervisor and this is just a start of it. Or maybe this is just for old DOS/Win games that'll sell for $9.99 in the appstore. Also a cursory look shows the API is rather Intel specific. That's fine for the status quo but if they ever switch CPU vendors again wonder how this will work out.
- toyg 12y ago
  > Or maybe this is just for old DOS/Win games that'll sell for $9.99 in the appstore. Maybe it's the start of an "extreme sandbox" model, where appstore apps are all virtualized.
  - X-Istence 12y ago
    This is something I've been thinking about. What if we could easily allow all programs to be sandboxed using virtualisation technology? Run your web browser or parts thereof inside of a VM so that any exploits are limited to just that VM.
    - transpute 12y ago
      Bromium does this for common apps (web, pdf, office) on Windows, e.g. each browser tab and HTTP request is a separate VM.
      - NickNameNick 12y ago
        It also alerts if a process does something 'weird', it allows exploits to run in a sandbox and records what they do, so you can analyse it later.
  - blinkingled 12y ago
    That's way more heavy weight compared to regular seccomp like sandboxes that Chrome uses on Linux - and for too little gain.
justinsb 12y ago
I hadn't seen Hypervisor.framework before. Has anyone looked into porting QEMU to it? It sounds like this would effectively be KVM for OSX.
koenigdavidmj 12y ago
This reminds me of vx32[0], a user level emulation library that seems to target the same interface. One of the main applications using it is 9vx, which is basically a Plan 9 kernel running in userspace. 0: http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/~baford/vm/ http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/~baford/vm/

84 points by LaSombra 12y ago

Sounds like an interesting framework, my quick search didn't unearth any docs for it though? The only reference on Apples website is "we added this to 10.10"

arthurfm 12y ago
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/releasenotes/MacOSX/WhatsNewInOSX/Articles/MacOSX10_10.html https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/releasenotes/MacOSX/... > Hypervisor (Hypervisor.framework). The Hypervisor framework allows virtualization vendors to build virtualization solutions on top of OS X without needing to deploy third-party kernel extensions (KEXTs). Included is a lightweight hypervisor that enables virtualization of the host CPUs.
gilgoomesh 12y ago
As with all Mac frameworks, the full headers are embedded in the framework and the headers all have full Javadoc-style API documentation for each function. Since there are only 24 functions in the whole framework, that's probably enough to work it out.
- TsukasaUjiie 12y ago
  If only I had my mbp with be to read them :'(
  - 0x006A 12y ago
    You can find a copy of the MacOSX-SDKs on github, i.e. https://github.com/phracker/MacOSX-SDKs/blob/8519a1de16d8384359a4f39f1bd82d751b7cfecd/MacOSX10.10.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/Hypervisor.framework/Versions/A/Headers/ https://github.com/phracker/MacOSX-SDKs/blob/8519a1de16d8384...
    - TsukasaUjiie 12y ago
      thanks
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

thought_alarm 12y ago

A nice write-up that explains this code is available here: http://www.pagetable.com/?p=764 http://www.pagetable.com/?p=764

blinkingled 12y ago

Gotta wonder who this is targeted towards - the likes of VMWare definitely not as I am sure they've spent a lot of time optimizing everything that happens in kernel space inside their drivers and surely there's more than 24 API calls they'll need inside the kernel to get something like Fusion working. Maybe Apple is planning to provide a built-in hypervisor and this is just a start of it. Or maybe this is just for old DOS/Win games that'll sell for $9.99 in the appstore. Also a cursory look shows the API is rather Intel specific. That's fine for the status quo but if they ever switch CPU vendors again wonder how this will work out.

toyg 12y ago
> Or maybe this is just for old DOS/Win games that'll sell for $9.99 in the appstore. Maybe it's the start of an "extreme sandbox" model, where appstore apps are all virtualized.
- X-Istence 12y ago
  This is something I've been thinking about. What if we could easily allow all programs to be sandboxed using virtualisation technology? Run your web browser or parts thereof inside of a VM so that any exploits are limited to just that VM.
  - transpute 12y ago
    Bromium does this for common apps (web, pdf, office) on Windows, e.g. each browser tab and HTTP request is a separate VM.
    - NickNameNick 12y ago
      It also alerts if a process does something 'weird', it allows exploits to run in a sandbox and records what they do, so you can analyse it later.
- blinkingled 12y ago
  That's way more heavy weight compared to regular seccomp like sandboxes that Chrome uses on Linux - and for too little gain.

justinsb 12y ago

I hadn't seen Hypervisor.framework before. Has anyone looked into porting QEMU to it? It sounds like this would effectively be KVM for OSX.

koenigdavidmj 12y ago

This reminds me of vx32[0], a user level emulation library that seems to target the same interface. One of the main applications using it is 9vx, which is basically a Plan 9 kernel running in userspace. 0: http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/~baford/vm/ http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/~baford/vm/