My memory dump parses successfully with version 2.27.0, but not with version 2.28.0

[ArtyomAfanasov]

Hello

Describe the bug
My memory dump parses successfully with version 2.27.0, but not with version 2.28.0. I used both the vol.exe and the vol.py files

Context
Volatility Version: 2.28.0
Operating System: Windows 11 25H2 26200.8457
Python Version: 3.13.0
Suspected Operating System: ?
Dump size: 536805376 bytes
Commands:

• python vol.py -vvv -f "path\dump.mem" windows.info
• vol.exe -vvv -f "path\dump.mem" windows.info

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Use commands:
   python vol.py -vvv -f "path\dump.mem" windows.info
2. See info (kind of error)

INFO     volatility3.cli: Volatility plugins path: ['path\\volatility3-2.28.0\\volatility3\\plugins', 'path\\volatility3-2.28.0\\volatility3\\framework\\plugins']
INFO     volatility3.cli: Volatility symbols path: ['path\\volatility3-2.28.0\\volatility3\\symbols', 'path\\volatility3-2.28.0\\volatility3\\framework\\symbols', 'path\\volatility3\\symbols']
DEBUG    volatility3.plugins.yarascan: Using yara-python module
DEBUG    volatility3.plugins.renderers.parquet_renderer: Arrow/Parquet libraries not found
Volatility 3 Framework 2.28.0
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Detected a windows category plugin
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: ConstructionMagic
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: SymbolCacheMagic
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: LayerStacker
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Detecting Self-referential pointer for recent windows
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: WindowsIntelStacker hits: []
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Older windows fixed location self-referential pointers
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: WindowsIntelStacker hits: [(<volatility3.framework.automagic.windows.DtbSelfRefPae object at 0x000002508BBA07D0>, 1736704)]
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Found 4 valid pointers
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: DTB 1a8000 contains less than 12 valid pointers, ignoring
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: TypeError - Layer is not the required Architecture: FileLayer
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.stacker: physical_layer maximum_address: 536805375
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.stacker: Stacked layers: ['FileLayer']
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: WinSwapLayers
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: KernelPDBScanner
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic.pdbscan: No suitable kernels found during pdbscan
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: SymbolFinder
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: KernelModule
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name

Unsatisfied requirement plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name:
Unsatisfied requirement plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name:

A translation layer requirement was not fulfilled.  Please verify that:
        A file was provided to create this layer (by -f, --single-location or by config)
        The file exists and is readable
        The file is a valid memory image and was acquired cleanly

A symbol table requirement was not fulfilled.  Please verify that:
        The associated translation layer requirement was fulfilled
        You have the correct symbol file for the requirement
        The symbol file is under the correct directory or zip file
        The symbol file is named appropriately or contains the correct banner

Unable to validate the plugin requirements: ['plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name', 'plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name']

MAKE A NOTE! My dump size is 536805376 bytes, but log have info:
DEBUG volatility3.framework.automagic.stacker: physical_layer maximum_address: 536805375

Expected behavior
Memory analysis is just as successful as in version 2.27.0.

Example output
See in the 2nd step.

Additional information
As well as version 2.27.0, version 2.11.0 also works fine for me. Version 2.28.0 works fine with other memory dumps, but I’ve come across one that causes problems.

Regards,
Artem

[ArtyomAfanasov]

Similar to #1978

[ikelos]

So it found a DTB but it was extremely sparse, so we skipped it, but there didn't appear to be a more populated DTB later on. We lowered the limit after the last release from 12 to 10. This value is specified here but seems we can sometimes mask legitimate memory images that way. Depending on whether the new lower value succeeds or not, we may have to dig into the pages and see how full they are. It would be useful if you could try values below 12, and see the highest number that it succeeds at and therefore the lowest number it fails out, so we know which we need to be aiming for...

Either way, we should probably make the limit a constant, so that it can be more easily adjusted (and potentially configurable) down the line.

[ikelos]

Also, this seems to have no resemblance to #1978, are you sure you got the right issue number? The error message you got is very generic because it's basically volatility saying "I can't recognize this image". There's hundreds of bugs in the tracker with the same final message, which is why we ask for the debugging information (which you very kindly provided and helped me identify the problem immediately). There's a whole bunch of heuristics volatility uses to figure out what's a memory image and what's just random data, and unfortunately when that fails, it's difficult to create custom errors for them all (although that would be useful, so might be something we should investigate too).

[ikelos]

Oh, hehehe, we put suitable debugging information in place. Your image appears to have only 4 valid pointers. Could you please try and set the value that I pointed out down to 3 (you may find the code looks slightly different in your version, so it might be worth getting the latest copy by downloading the develop branch, rather than a release).

[ikelos]

The root cause of this is because we started getting some Windows 11 images in which were failing and we eventually found out this is because they have almost a fake/empty DTB in the well known locations, and then much higher up a valid DTB with a lot more entries in it. As such, we added in support to ignore DTBs that had a very small number of top level pages (which was a way of identifying bad images).

Unfortunately this is at odds with your system that has only one legitimate DTB, which we're skipping because it has so few top level pages allocated. I'm particularly surprised given the image is only about 500Mb in size, so I'd expect a booted copy of windows to spread out more.

For now this will likely come down to a judgement call over how many images can be scanned correctly one way versus the other. Making the limit configurable will help, but ultimately the automagic would need to keep track of the possibilities, try them and be able to tell which one is correct (which is likely to be difficult without actually trying to use the image for something complex)....

[ArtyomAfanasov]

@ikelos, hello!
Thank you very much for the detailed response!

I tried several values for X in if valid_pointers >= X. For 1, 2, 3, and 4, the command successfully parses the image (I also tested this with another plugin: windows.dlllist.DllList). Values 5–12 do not produce the expected result.
I modified the code from the release version 2.28.0.

[ArtyomAfanasov]

Also, this seems to have no resemblance to #1978, are you sure you got the right issue number?

It seemed to me that the issues were similar because both cases involve version 2.28, and the error message reads Unable to validate the plugin requirements: ['plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name', 'plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name']. Those are the only criteria I used to reach that conclusion :)

[siwind]

me too, but my version is deve-3.28.1.

vol -f dumped.vmem -vvv windows.info
INFO     volatility3.cli: Volatility plugins path: ['/opt/volatility3/volatility3/plugins', '/opt/volatility3/volatility3/framework/plugins']
INFO     volatility3.cli: Volatility symbols path: ['/opt/volatility3/volatility3/symbols', '/opt/volatility3/volatility3/framework/symbols', '/opt/..../.cache/volatility3/symbols']
DEBUG    volatility3.plugins.renderers.parquet_renderer: Arrow/Parquet libraries not found
Volatility 3 Framework 2.28.1
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Detected a windows category plugin
DEBUG    google.cloud.storage._opentelemetry_tracing: This service is instrumented using OpenTelemetry. OpenTelemetry or one of its components could not be imported; please add compatible versions of opentelemetry-api and opentelemetry-instrumentation packages in order to get Storage Tracing data.
INFO     gcsfs       : gcsfs experimental features enabled via GCSFS_EXPERIMENTAL_ZB_HNS_SUPPORT.
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: ConstructionMagic
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info.kernel
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.automagic.construct_layers: Failed on requirement: plugins.Info
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: SymbolCacheMagic
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: LayerStacker
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
WARNING  volatility3.framework.layers.vmware: No metadata file found alongside VMEM file. A VMSS or VMSN file may be required to correctly process a VMEM file. These should be placed in the same directory with the same file name, e.g. worldskills3.vmem and worldskills3.vmss.
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Detecting Self-referential pointer for recent windows
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: WindowsIntelStacker hits: [(<volatility3.framework.automagic.windows.DtbSelfRef64bit object at 0x7fc8dee3a490>, 1601536)]
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Found 9 valid pointers
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: DTB 187000 contains less than 12 valid pointers, ignoring
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Older windows fixed location self-referential pointers
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: WindowsIntelStacker hits: [(<volatility3.framework.automagic.windows.DtbSelfRef64bitOldWindows object at 0x7fc8defeb0e0>, 1601536)]
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Found 9 valid pointers
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: DTB 187000 contains less than 12 valid pointers, ignoring
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: Very large memory with high DTBs (slow)
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.windows: WindowsIntelStacker hits: []
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: TypeError - Layer is not the required Architecture: FileLayer
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.stacker: physical_layer maximum_address: 2147483647
DEBUG    volatility3.framework.automagic.stacker: Stacked layers: ['FileLayer']
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: WinSwapLayers
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: KernelPDBScanner
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic.pdbscan: No suitable kernels found during pdbscan
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: SymbolFinder
INFO     volatility3.framework.automagic: Running automagic: KernelModule
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: IndexError - No configuration provided: plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name
DETAIL 1 volatility3.framework.configuration.requirements: Symbol table requirement not yet fulfilled: plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name

Unsatisfied requirement plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name: 
Unsatisfied requirement plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name: 

A translation layer requirement was not fulfilled.  Please verify that:
        A file was provided to create this layer (by -f, --single-location or by config)
        The file exists and is readable
        The file is a valid memory image and was acquired cleanly

A symbol table requirement was not fulfilled.  Please verify that:
        The associated translation layer requirement was fulfilled
        You have the correct symbol file for the requirement
        The symbol file is under the correct directory or zip file
        The symbol file is named appropriately or contains the correct banner

Unable to validate the plugin requirements: ['plugins.Info.kernel.layer_name', 'plugins.Info.kernel.symbol_table_name']

[ArtyomAfanasov]

@siwind hello!

Try to change if valid_pointers >= 12 to if valid_pointers >= 9 [here] (

volatility3/volatility3/framework/automagic/windows.py

Line 326 in dfb8f5e

if valid_pointers >= 10:

)