The ProbeForRead routine checks that a user-mode buffer actually resides in the user portion of the address space, and is correctly aligned.

VOID 
  ProbeForRead(
    IN CONST VOID  *Address,
    IN SIZE_T  Length,
    IN ULONG  Alignment
    );

Parameters

Address

Specifies the beginning of the user-mode buffer.

Length

Specifies the length, in bytes, of the user-mode buffer.

Alignment

Specifies the required alignment, in bytes, of the beginning of the user-mode buffer.

Return Value

None

Comments

If the specified range of memory is not within the user-mode address range, ProbeForRead raises the STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION exception. If the beginning of the address range is not aligned on the byte boundary that is specified by Alignment, ProbeForRead raises the STATUS_DATATYPE_MISALIGNMENT exception.

Kernel-mode drivers must use ProbeForRead to validate read access to buffers that are allocated in user space. It is most commonly used during METHOD_NEITHER I/O to validate the user buffer pointed to by Irp -> UserBuffer.

Drivers must call ProbeForRead inside a try/except block. If the routine raises an exception, the driver should complete the IRP with the appropriate error. Note that subsequent accesses by the driver to the user-mode buffer must also be encapsulated within a try/except block: a malicious application could have another thread deleting, substituting, or changing the protection of user address ranges at any time (even after or during a call to ProbeForRead or ProbeForWrite). For more information, see Handling Exceptions.

Do not use this routine on kernel-mode addresses; it will raise an exception.

Requirements

IRQL: <=APC_LEVEL

Headers: Declared in Wdm.h. Include Wdm.h, Ntddk.h, or Ntifs.h.

See Also

ProbeForWrite