Is there an issue with Sophos Intercept X and Internet Explorer 11?

I've given the definition of insanity a run for its money trying to get to the bottom of this same issue also.

Our EMR will only run in IE due to high dependency on ActiveX.

Anytime Microsoft pushed out significant updates to Win10, I would have to reconfigure the internet security options under trusted sites on those workstations browsers. 

Recently, IE would just trigger a message (Internet Explorer has stopped working) - and I have spent at least 10 hours since the new year trying every trick I know to get our users running stable. 

Finally, when parsing through event logs I noticed a common trend in that C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE & C:\WINDOWS\system32\dinput8.dll were common denominators and searched that string. I landed on the Microsoft TechNet discussion where almost everyone there had an additional common factor - they all use Sophos!

We purchased licenses for Intercept X for a reason, and now the only work around is to disable that protection on Windows 10 workstations? The renaming of the hitman .dll - is that an alternative? What exactly needs to be done in that case?

"The renaming of the hitman .dll - is that an alternative?"

John, the component "Hitman Pro Alert" is InterceptX.  So the DLL mentioned just prevents IX from loading.

Support did mention DINPUT8.DLL to me when the examined my logs.  They were like "this is what's crashing, so it's a Microsoft issue."  OMG!!  No, it's a Sophos issue.

"The renaming of the hitman .dll - is that an alternative?"

John, the component "Hitman Pro Alert" is InterceptX.  So the DLL mentioned just prevents IX from loading.

Support did mention DINPUT8.DLL to me when the examined my logs.  They were like "this is what's crashing, so it's a Microsoft issue."  OMG!!  No, it's a Sophos issue.

Thanks for that point of clarification David.

I just removed one of the windows 10 workstations I had assigned Int X on via Managed Endpoint Software that was problematic, rebooted and shes running fine now - with no crashing issues.

Its obviously not a Microsoft issue!

I've added this to the list of topics to discuss with our account manager, account executive, sophos engineer, and upgrade/renewals staff @Sophos on our next review call. 

I'm waiting to hear back from the end-user, but I saw first hand IE crashing whenever he loaded it (I even had Shockwave disabled as well).  I thought maybe it was something to do with his home page which was MSN (Lenovo) so I changed it to Google and IE didn't crash when opening.  Had him access his main sites and everything was working.

If it continues to work (which I'll report back on), maybe check to see what home page the user has. 

If anyone has any dumps of the iexplorer.exe process from the crashes, having installed procdump as per my previous post on this thread, can you install Windbg either from the SDK or even Windbg Preview from the Microsoft Store.  After doing so can you paste the contents of running the command:
!analyze -v
It will be interesting to see if everyone is seeing the same error.

Regards,
Jak

I'm experiencing the same issue described here.  IE11 is crashing on any page that contains Flash.  I can produce it regularly by going to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/about/ and checking the version of Flash installed.  It does not crash every time but if I refresh 10 times it will crash maybe 6 or 7 of those. 

Sophos Info

• Core Agent: 11.5.11
• Endpoint Advanced: 11.5.11
• IX: 3.6.14

IE Info

• Version: 11.248.16299
• Update Version: 11.0.51

OS Info

• OS: Win 10 Pro
• Version: 10.0.16299

Here are the contents from one of the dumps:

*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found. Defaulted to export symbols for ieframe.dll -
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for msIso.dll
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found. Defaulted to export symbols for mshtml.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found. Defaulted to export symbols for hmpalert.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found. Defaulted to export symbols for igdumdx32.dll -
*** ERROR: Symbol file could not be found. Defaulted to export symbols for jscript9.dll -
GetUrlPageData2 (WinHttp) failed: 12002.

DUMP_CLASS: 2

DUMP_QUALIFIER: 400

CONTEXT: (.ecxr)
eax=6d174008 ebx=00000000 ecx=da54309d edx=00000000 esi=6d110000 edi=6d1163c0
eip=6d14ca5d esp=097ef9fc ebp=097efa40 iopl=0 nv up ei pl nz na pe nc
cs=0023 ss=002b ds=002b es=002b fs=0053 gs=002b efl=00010206
dinput8!__delayLoadHelper2+0x26c:
6d14ca5d 8938 mov dword ptr [eax],edi ds:002b:6d174008={dinput8!_imp_load__CreateInputHostForProcess (6d14c266)}
Resetting default scope

FAULTING_IP:
dinput8!__delayLoadHelper2+26c
6d14ca5d 8938 mov dword ptr [eax],edi

EXCEPTION_RECORD: (.exr -1)
ExceptionAddress: 6d14ca5d (dinput8!__delayLoadHelper2+0x0000026c)
ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 2
Parameter[0]: 00000001
Parameter[1]: 6d174008
Attempt to write to address 6d174008

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: INVALID_POINTER_WRITE

PROCESS_NAME: iexplore.exe

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at 0x%p referenced memory at 0x%p. The memory could not be %s.

EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at 0x%p referenced memory at 0x%p. The memory could not be %s.

EXCEPTION_CODE_STR: c0000005

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER1: 00000001

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER2: 6d174008

FOLLOWUP_IP:
dinput8!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll+d
6d14c27d 5a pop edx

WRITE_ADDRESS: 6d174008

BUGCHECK_STR: INVALID_POINTER_WRITE

WATSON_BKT_PROCSTAMP: 91f43e7

WATSON_BKT_PROCVER: 11.0.16299.15

PROCESS_VER_PRODUCT: Internet Explorer

WATSON_BKT_MODULE: dinput8.dll

WATSON_BKT_MODSTAMP: 536c18e7

WATSON_BKT_MODOFFSET: ca5d

WATSON_BKT_MODVER: 6.2.16299.15

MODULE_VER_PRODUCT: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System

BUILD_VERSION_STRING: 10.0.16299.15 (WinBuild.160101.0800)

MODLIST_WITH_TSCHKSUM_HASH: 881da541634c176d3d7437be2fe9556beea2da7e

MODLIST_SHA1_HASH: 8b9abb1d3a91467a181199803a1d9050f6fd69d3

NTGLOBALFLAG: 0

APPLICATION_VERIFIER_FLAGS: 0

PRODUCT_TYPE: 1

SUITE_MASK: 272

DUMP_FLAGS: 8000c07

DUMP_TYPE: 0

ANALYSIS_SESSION_HOST: FC0264

ANALYSIS_SESSION_TIME: 02-13-2018 13:27:25.0587

ANALYSIS_VERSION: 10.0.14321.1024 amd64fre

THREAD_ATTRIBUTES:
OS_LOCALE: ENU

PROBLEM_CLASSES:

INVALID_POINTER_WRITE
Tid [0x2ac0]
Frame [0x00]: dinput8!__delayLoadHelper2

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from 6d14c27d to 6d14ca5d

STACK_TEXT:
097efa40 6d14c27d 6d165dcc 6d174008 05000000 dinput8!__delayLoadHelper2+0x26c
097efa74 770acc4b 6d171210 00000000 00000000 dinput8!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll+0xd
097efaa0 76242f37 6d171210 6d14c3c0 00000000 ntdll!RtlRunOnceExecuteOnce+0x7b
097efab8 6d14c3e4 6d171210 6d14c3c0 00000000 KERNELBASE!InitOnceExecuteOnce+0x17
097efacc 77093470 00000000 d79f3b8c 00000000 dinput8!DllProcessDetach+0x106
097efb54 77094059 097efc54 11916988 d79f3d98 ntdll!RtlpTpWorkCallback+0x120
097efd40 76738654 00a707b0 76738630 d6f5c581 ntdll!TppWorkerThread+0x7d9
097efd54 770c4a77 00a707b0 d79f3d44 00000000 kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0x24
097efd9c 770c4a47 ffffffff 770e9ed8 00000000 ntdll!__RtlUserThreadStart+0x2f
097efdac 00000000 77093880 00a707b0 00000000 ntdll!_RtlUserThreadStart+0x1b

THREAD_SHA1_HASH_MOD_FUNC: 990a82e415868202159e68f02f4a0fc8053dd098

THREAD_SHA1_HASH_MOD_FUNC_OFFSET: be224ce181700857cc613a30669f2e05f7339859

THREAD_SHA1_HASH_MOD: 252da8e44adbc7357ee3134979e659a2a5eb7a00

FAULT_INSTR_CODE: e0ff595a

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 1

SYMBOL_NAME: dinput8!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll+d

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: dinput8

IMAGE_NAME: dinput8.dll

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 536c18e7

STACK_COMMAND: .ecxr ; kb

BUCKET_ID: INVALID_POINTER_WRITE_dinput8!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll+d

PRIMARY_PROBLEM_CLASS: INVALID_POINTER_WRITE_dinput8!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll+d

FAILURE_EXCEPTION_CODE: c0000005

FAILURE_IMAGE_NAME: dinput8.dll

BUCKET_ID_IMAGE_STR: dinput8.dll

FAILURE_MODULE_NAME: dinput8

BUCKET_ID_MODULE_STR: dinput8

FAILURE_FUNCTION_NAME: _tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll

BUCKET_ID_FUNCTION_STR: _tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll

BUCKET_ID_OFFSET: d

BUCKET_ID_MODTIMEDATESTAMP: 536c18e7

BUCKET_ID_MODCHECKSUM: 34a3c

BUCKET_ID_MODVER_STR: 6.2.16299.15

BUCKET_ID_PREFIX_STR: INVALID_POINTER_WRITE_

FAILURE_PROBLEM_CLASS: INVALID_POINTER_WRITE

FAILURE_SYMBOL_NAME: dinput8.dll!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: INVALID_POINTER_WRITE_c0000005_dinput8.dll!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll

WATSON_STAGEONE_URL: watson.microsoft.com/.../ 91f43e7/dinput8.dll/6.2.16299.15/536c18e7/c0000005/0000ca5d.htm?Retriage=1

TARGET_TIME: 2018-02-13T19:11:06.000Z

OSBUILD: 16299

OSSERVICEPACK: 15

SERVICEPACK_NUMBER: 0

OS_REVISION: 0

OSPLATFORM_TYPE: x86

OSNAME: Windows 10

OSEDITION: Windows 10 WinNt SingleUserTS

USER_LCID: 0

OSBUILD_TIMESTAMP: 2031-10-26 21:56:14

BUILDDATESTAMP_STR: 160101.0800

BUILDLAB_STR: WinBuild

BUILDOSVER_STR: 10.0.16299.15

ANALYSIS_SESSION_ELAPSED_TIME: afcf

ANALYSIS_SOURCE: UM

FAILURE_ID_HASH_STRING: um:invalid_pointer_write_c0000005_dinput8.dll!_tailmerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll

FAILURE_ID_HASH: {502bd972-e56d-fddf-7192-e45057a66168}

Setup:

OS and IE:

• OS: 10.0.16299 Build 16299 Version 1709 - 64-bit - Home
• IE: 11.192.16299.0
• IE Plugin: Shockwave Flash Object 28.0.0.161
• Set get.adobe.com/.../ as home page for IE.

Sophos Software:

• Core Agent 2.0.0
• Endpoint Advanced 10.8.1.1
• Sophos Intercept X 2.0.1

Test:

• With IE Shockwave plugin disabled. Launched and closed IE 10 times no crashes.
• Enabled Shockwave plugin and IE crashed on the third start-up.

The dump info:

0:005> .ecxr
eax=00000000 ebx=00001000 ecx=00000001 edx=00000010 esi=618a4000 edi=618a4000
eip=6187c677 esp=0802f3c8 ebp=0802f418 iopl=0 nv up ei pl zr na pe nc
cs=0023 ss=002b ds=002b es=002b fs=0053 gs=002b efl=00010246
dinput8!DloadMakePermanentImageCommit+0x62:
6187c677 f00906 lock or dword ptr [esi],eax ds:002b:618a4000={dinput8!_imp_load__CreateGenericInputHost (6187c281)}

FAILURE_EXCEPTION_CODE: c0000005
FAILURE_IMAGE_NAME: dinput8.dll
BUGCHECK_STR: APPLICATION_FAULT_INVALID_POINTER_WRITE
STACK_TEXT:
0802f418 6187c761 618a1210 618a1214 00000000 dinput8!DloadMakePermanentImageCommit+0x62
0802f434 6187c60c 6187c3c0 6187c80b 618a1210 dinput8!DloadProtectSection+0x52
0802f43c 6187c80b 618a1210 6187c3c0 00000000 dinput8!DloadAcquireSectionWriteAccess+0x36
0802f488 6187c27d 61895dcc 618a4008 05000000 dinput8!__delayLoadHelper2+0x1a
0802f4bc 77c4cc4b 618a1210 00000000 00000000 dinput8!_tailMerge_ext_ms_win_mininput_inputhost_l1_1_1_dll+0xd
0802f4e8 74752f17 618a1210 6187c3c0 00000000 ntdll!RtlRunOnceExecuteOnce+0x7b
0802f500 6187c3e4 618a1210 6187c3c0 00000000 KERNELBASE!InitOnceExecuteOnce+0x17
0802f514 77c33470 00000000 0b055486 00000000 dinput8!DllProcessDetach+0x106
0802f59c 77c34059 0802f69c 1040ea58 0b055692 ntdll!RtlpTpWorkCallback+0x120
0802f788 77b48654 04ae07b0 77b48630 3303ec60 ntdll!TppWorkerThread+0x7d9
0802f79c 77c64a77 04ae07b0 0b0556fe 00000000 kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0x24
0802f7e4 77c64a47 ffffffff 77c89efd 00000000 ntdll!__RtlUserThreadStart+0x2f
0802f7f4 00000000 77c33880 04ae07b0 00000000 ntdll!_RtlUserThreadStart+0x1b

ExceptionAddress: 6187ca5d (dinput8!DirectInput8Create+0x0000176d)
ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 2
Parameter[0]: 00000001
Parameter[1]: 618a4008
Attempt to write to address 618a4008

0:005> !address 6187ca5d

Mapping file section regions...
Mapping module regions...
Mapping PEB regions...
Mapping TEB and stack regions...
Mapping heap regions...
Mapping page heap regions...
Mapping other regions...
Mapping stack trace database regions...
Mapping activation context regions...

Usage: Image
Base Address: 61871000
End Address: 61896000
Region Size: 00025000 ( 148.000 kB)
State: 00001000 MEM_COMMIT
Protect: 00000020 PAGE_EXECUTE_READ
Type: 01000000 MEM_IMAGE
Allocation Base: 61870000
Allocation Protect: 00000080 PAGE_EXECUTE_WRITECOPY
Image Path: C:\Windows\System32\dinput8.dll
Module Name: dinput8
Loaded Image Name: dinput8.dll
Mapped Image Name:
More info: lmv m dinput8
More info: !lmi dinput8
More info: ln 0x6187ca5d
More info: !dh 0x61870000

Content source: 1 (target), length: 195a3

0:005> lmvm dinput8
start end module name
61870000 618a8000 dinput8 (pdb symbols) c:\symbols\dinput8.pdb\E0FEBBB2E20390F6896FF1C15293C61C1\dinput8.pdb
Loaded symbol image file: dinput8.dll
Image path: C:\Windows\System32\dinput8.dll
Image name: dinput8.dll
Image was built with /Brepro flag.
Timestamp: 536C18E7 (This is a reproducible build file hash, not a timestamp)
CheckSum: 00034A3C
ImageSize: 00038000
File version: 6.2.16299.15
Product version: 10.0.16299.15
File flags: 0 (Mask 3F)
File OS: 40004 NT Win32
File type: 2.0 Dll
File date: 00000000.00000000
Translations: 0409.04b0
Information from resource tables:
CompanyName: Microsoft Corporation
ProductName: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
InternalName: DInput8.dll
OriginalFilename: DInput8.dll
ProductVersion: 10.0.16299.15
FileVersion: 10.0.16299.15 (WinBuild.160101.0800)
FileDescription: Microsoft DirectInput
LegalCopyright: © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

lmvmFlash
start end module name
11130000 12770000 Flash (export symbols) Flash.ocx
Loaded symbol image file: Flash.ocx
Image path: C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\Flash.ocx
Image name: Flash.ocx
Timestamp: Thu Feb 1 15:38:04 2018 (5A73A4DC)
CheckSum: 01551D49
ImageSize: 01640000
File version: 28.0.0.161
Product version: 28.0.0.161
File flags: 0 (Mask 3F)
File OS: 4 Unknown Win32
File type: 2.0 Dll
File date: 00000000.00000000
Translations: 0409.04b0
Information from resource tables:
CompanyName: Adobe Systems, Inc.
ProductName: Shockwave Flash
InternalName: Adobe Flash Player 28.0
OriginalFilename: Flash.ocx
ProductVersion: 28,0,0,161
FileVersion: 28,0,0,161
FileDescription: Adobe Flash Player 28.0 r0
LegalCopyright: Adobe® Flash® Player. Copyright © 1996-2018 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe and Flash are either trademarks or registered trademarks in the United States and/or other countries.
LegalTrademarks: Adobe Flash Player

I'll try and add a number of "changes" that help.  Maybe others can confirm:

1. Setting tab growth of IE, such that iexplore.exe is set o use a single process. 

Here is a reg key for all users on the computer.  You could do this on a per user basis using HKCU instead...

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"TabProcGrowthDefault"="Medium"
"TabProcGrowth"=dword:00000000

 Note: TabProcGrowth can be a string or a DWORD.  I initially had it as a String and set to Medium.  As a test I have made it a DWORD and set it to 0.   See: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/askie/2009/03/09/opening-a-new-tab-may-launch-a-new-process-with-internet-explorer-8-0/ for more info.

2. If I:
Stop the "HitmanPro.Alert service".
In the registry under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\HitmanPro.Alert\_profiles_\Browsers\
Set all the mitigations to 0 apart from ASLR, which is set to 1. 
Start the "HitmanPro.Alert service".
Then I can, with a script launch IE 50 times without issue with the homepage set to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/about/ 

This suggests to me, the issue is with one or more of the mitigations, either in isolation or in combination.

I will run through the tests toggling individual mitigations on.  If at the end I can set all of the values to 1 individually that will suggest it's more tricky than any one mitigation causing this.  Maybe a race condition?