KMDF - Quick Reference

Deep Knowledge: Use mcp__documentation__fetch_docs with technology: wdf-kmdf. Authoritative source: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/wdf/.

Driver entry + device add

NTSTATUS DriverEntry(_In_ PDRIVER_OBJECT DriverObject,
                     _In_ PUNICODE_STRING RegistryPath) {
    WDF_DRIVER_CONFIG config;
    WDF_DRIVER_CONFIG_INIT(&config, MyEvtDeviceAdd);
    config.DriverPoolTag = 'rvDM';
    return WdfDriverCreate(DriverObject, RegistryPath,
                           WDF_NO_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES, &config, WDF_NO_HANDLE);
}

NTSTATUS MyEvtDeviceAdd(_In_ WDFDRIVER Driver, _Inout_ PWDFDEVICE_INIT DeviceInit) {
    UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(Driver);

    // Filter? Function? FDO/PDO?
    // WdfFdoInitSetFilter(DeviceInit);   // <-- uncomment for filter
    WDFDEVICE device;
    NTSTATUS status = WdfDeviceCreate(&DeviceInit, WDF_NO_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES, &device);
    if (!NT_SUCCESS(status)) return status;

    WDF_IO_QUEUE_CONFIG q;
    WDF_IO_QUEUE_CONFIG_INIT_DEFAULT_QUEUE(&q, WdfIoQueueDispatchParallel);
    q.EvtIoDeviceControl  = MyEvtIoDeviceControl;
    q.EvtIoRead           = MyEvtIoRead;
    q.EvtIoWrite          = MyEvtIoWrite;
    return WdfIoQueueCreate(device, &q, WDF_NO_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES, NULL);
}

I/O queues — dispatch types

Use manual queues for forwarding patterns (filter holds requests, completes them later when the underlying device responds).

IRQL Cheat Sheet

Annotate every function so SDV / CodeQL can verify:

_IRQL_requires_max_(DISPATCH_LEVEL)
_Must_inspect_result_
NTSTATUS Helper(_In_ WDFDEVICE dev);

Memory allocation

// Modern (preferred)
PVOID p = ExAllocatePool2(POOL_FLAG_NON_PAGED, size, 'rvDM');
if (!p) return STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES;
// ... use ...
ExFreePoolWithTag(p, 'rvDM');

// Pool flags
// POOL_FLAG_NON_PAGED              - safe at DISPATCH_LEVEL
// POOL_FLAG_PAGED                  - PASSIVE_LEVEL only
// POOL_FLAG_NON_PAGED_EXECUTE      - rarely needed; HVCI-hostile
// POOL_FLAG_UNINITIALIZED          - skip zero-fill (perf, only if you fill it)

Never use ExAllocatePool / ExAllocatePoolWithTag — flagged as deprecated/insecure since WDK 22000.

IOCTL handling

// Public.h (shared with usermode)
#define IOCTL_MYDRV_DO_THING \
    CTL_CODE(FILE_DEVICE_UNKNOWN, 0x800, METHOD_BUFFERED, FILE_ANY_ACCESS)

// Driver
VOID MyEvtIoDeviceControl(_In_ WDFQUEUE Queue, _In_ WDFREQUEST Request,
                          _In_ size_t OutputBufferLength, _In_ size_t InputBufferLength,
                          _In_ ULONG IoControlCode) {
    UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(Queue);
    NTSTATUS status; size_t bytes = 0;

    switch (IoControlCode) {
    case IOCTL_MYDRV_DO_THING: {
        PMY_INPUT in; PMY_OUTPUT out;
        status = WdfRequestRetrieveInputBuffer(Request, sizeof(*in),  (PVOID*)&in,  NULL);
        if (!NT_SUCCESS(status)) break;
        status = WdfRequestRetrieveOutputBuffer(Request, sizeof(*out),(PVOID*)&out, NULL);
        if (!NT_SUCCESS(status)) break;
        out->Result = in->Value * 2;
        bytes = sizeof(*out);
    } break;
    default:
        status = STATUS_INVALID_DEVICE_REQUEST; break;
    }
    WdfRequestCompleteWithInformation(Request, status, bytes);
}

Buffer methods: METHOD_BUFFERED (kernel-allocated copy — safest), METHOD_IN_DIRECT / METHOD_OUT_DIRECT (MDL — for big buffers), METHOD_NEITHER (raw user pointer — dangerous, requires ProbeForRead/ProbeForWrite in a try/except).

WPP tracing

// Trace.h
#define WPP_CONTROL_GUIDS \
    WPP_DEFINE_CONTROL_GUID(MyDriverCtl, (00000000,1111,2222,3333,444444444444), \
        WPP_DEFINE_BIT(TRACE_DRIVER) WPP_DEFINE_BIT(TRACE_DEVICE))

// Driver.c — on top of file (after includes)
#include "Driver.h"
#include "Driver.tmh"               // generated by WPP preprocessor

// Use
TraceEvents(TRACE_LEVEL_INFORMATION, TRACE_DRIVER, "DriverEntry: status=%!STATUS!", status);

Decode at runtime: tracelog.exe -start mytrace -guid GuidFile -f .\trace.etl -flag 0xFF -level 5. Decode the .etl with tracerpt or traceview.exe against the driver .pdb.

Object lifetime + cleanup

Every WDF object has a parent. Destroying a parent destroys children. Wire cleanup explicitly when needed:

WDF_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES attrs;
WDF_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES_INIT(&attrs);
attrs.EvtCleanupCallback = MyContextCleanup;   // runs at PASSIVE_LEVEL
attrs.EvtDestroyCallback = MyContextDestroy;   // may run at DISPATCH_LEVEL
WDF_OBJECT_ATTRIBUTES_SET_CONTEXT_TYPE(&attrs, MY_DEVICE_CONTEXT);
WdfDeviceCreate(&DeviceInit, &attrs, &device);

Synchronization

PnP / Power callbacks (subset)

WDF_PNPPOWER_EVENT_CALLBACKS pp;
WDF_PNPPOWER_EVENT_CALLBACKS_INIT(&pp);
pp.EvtDevicePrepareHardware = MyEvtDevicePrepareHardware;     // map resources
pp.EvtDeviceReleaseHardware = MyEvtDeviceReleaseHardware;
pp.EvtDeviceD0Entry         = MyEvtDeviceD0Entry;
pp.EvtDeviceD0Exit          = MyEvtDeviceD0Exit;
WdfDeviceInitSetPnpPowerEventCallbacks(DeviceInit, &pp);

Verification ladder

1. Compile with /W4 /WX and SAL annotations — fix every warning
2. Static Driver Verifier (SDV) — IRQL/locking/leak rules, must be clean before release
3. WDK CodeQL queries (Microsoft's Windows-Driver-Developer-Supplemental-Tools repo) — must-pass set
4. Driver Verifier at runtime: verifier /standard /driver MyDrv.sys, then reboot and exercise
5. !analyze any bugcheck on the test machine via WinDbg

Anti-Patterns