"StarCraft II" conflicts with "Enhanced Protected Mode" [M1383]

Comodo Internet Security - CIS Resolved/Outdated Issues - CIS
#1

A. THE BUG/ISSUE (Varies from issue to issue)
Can you reproduce the problem & if so how reliably?:
Yes. Every time.
If you can, exact steps to reproduce. If not, exactly what you did & what happened:

  1. Install “StarCraft II”.
    Link : http://dist.blizzard.com/downloads/sc2-installers/full/StarCraft-II-Setup-enUS.exe
    Mirror : Comodo Forum
  2. Go to “Advanced Settings” > “Security Settings”> “Defense+” > “HIPS” > “HIPS Settings”.
  3. Enable the following option : “Enable enhanced protection mode”.
  4. Restart your computer system.
  5. Run “StarCraft II”.
    One or two sentences explaining what actually happened:
    After approximately 5-10 seconds of loading, your computer will automatically restart with no warning given & no BSOD (dump file is not generated).
    One or two sentences explaining what you expected to happen:
    The game should reach its initial loading screen & work as it normally would in the past versions (eg version 7). There should be no conflict.
    If a software compatibility problem have you tried the advice to make programs work with CIS?:
    N/A
    Any software except CIS/OS involved? If so - name, & exact version:
    StarCraft II Patch 2.1.7 (latest version to date)
    Any other information, eg your guess at the cause, how you tried to fix it etc:
  6. The entire process of Windows recording that a BSOD happened is completely thrown out and the only indication something happened in Event Viewer was that Windows did not shut down cleanly. No Blue Screen, no crash dump, no BugCheck event, nothing.
  7. After disabling “Enhanced Protection Mode” option, the problem no longer occurs. I’m also very surprised that Enhanced Protection Mode actually will take effect, despite HIPS being turned off by default upon installing the program to begin with. I would have implied that Advanced settings for a particular component would not function, should the component itself be disabled.
  8. Disabling Intel-VT in BIOS corrects the problem, allowing for “Enhanced Protected Mode” to be enabled and both games will properly load without restarting the computer system.
  9. I would like to also point out, “Heroes of the Storm” (Home - Heroes of the Storm) will cause the same problem, as it has a similar engine to that of “StarCraft II”. Less people would have access to the present version of the technical alpha, but I wanted to let you folks know that this was primarily used for testing the problem on my end.

B. YOUR SETUP
Exact CIS version & configuration:
8.0.0.4337 | Configuration : “Internet Security”
Modules enabled & level. D+/HIPS, Autosandbox/BBlocker, Firewall, & AV:
Default
Have you made any other changes to the default config? (egs here.):
I’ve enabled “Enhanced Protection Mode” option only.
Have you updated (without uninstall) from CIS 5 or CIS6?:
No
if so, have you tried a a a clean reinstall - if not please do?:
N/A
Have you imported a config from a previous version of CIS:
No
if so, have you tried a standard config - if not please do:
N/A
OS version, SP, 32/64 bit, UAC setting, account type, V.Machine used:
OS Name : Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro | Version : 6.3.9600 Build 9600 | System Type: x64-based PC
UAC : default | Account type: Administrator
V. Machine: Not used
Other security/s’box software a) currently installed b) installed since OS, including initial trial security software included with system:
a=None b=None

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#2

I’m not sure if I understood your issue accurately. Could you please create a video or multiple screenshots (eg replication steps)?

Thanks.

#3

The description I put into the original report is basically a recap of the steps necessary to enable Enhanced Protected Mode within COMODO Internet Security and then trying to open either of those two games. This implies someone installing CIS without changing any other settings aside from the enabling of Enhanced Protected Mode and the necessary step of accomplishing that (restarting the PC).

When a BSOD normally occurs, Windows shows a blue screen with some basic detail of what happened, makes a crash dump, and then restarts (if the option to do so is enabled). When all of this happens, error events are logged in Event Viewer indicating A) Windows was not shut down cleanly, B) if a crash dump could not be made, and C) a BugCheck event indicating the BSOD 0x code and that a crash dump was made if possible.

What happens when this particular problem occurs is that the entire process of Windows recording that a BSOD happened is completely thrown out and the only indication something happened in Event Viewer was that Windows did not shut down cleanly. No Blue Screen, no crash dump, no BugCheck event, nothing.

Essentially, CIS Enhanced Protected Mode will cause your computer to restart or crash if you attempt to open Heroes of the Storm or StarCraft II while it is enabled and that when such a crash like this occurs, Windows cannot create a crash dump or log exactly what happened whereas it would for a normal BSOD.

#4
  1. Please attach a system summary as well. (run > msinfo32 > save)
  2. Are we talking about an instant restart? Is there any kind of delay?

Thanks.

#5

It’s about the same delay as when a normal BSOD would take place. The game opens to a black screen and hourglass, as normal. Within about two seconds, what is supposed to happen is that a loading screen will appear and then proceed to the game.

With Enhanced Protection Mode enabled, instead of the loading screen appearing, the mouse will freeze in place and within a second or two, you probably would have been greeted to a BSOD, but it just restarts your computer, in which case I find myself at the BIOS logo before it proceeds back into Windows.

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#6

Let’s try a normal dump procedure for now. Please follow the same steps from here.
Keep me updated.

Thanks.

#7

Following the steps provided, neither “main.exe” nor “main_x64.exe” create a dump file when this problem occurs.

#8
  1. Just to make sure, is your system configured like in this guide?
  2. Also, what happens if you disable Virtualization Technology (VT) from BIOS?

Thank you.

#9

  1. Configured as written in the guide, no complete memory dump is even attempted to be created. As I said before, only Event Viewer entry to the problem indicates it shut down cleaning. No attempt at making a dump logged, nor any event logged saying the initialization of said dump failed. %systemroot%/memory.dmp is not created.

  2. Disabling Intel-VT in BIOS corrects the problem, allowing for Enhanced Protected Mode to be enabled and both games will properly load without restarting the computer.

#10

In that case, we have to force a BSOD (when the issue occurs). Please take a look here, maybe here. (although I do not know if it’s ideal, probably not)
I cannot forward your report without a dump in the sense that it’s not a complete report and it might not get confirmed from their side. I hope you understand.

Thanks again.

#11

Despite following your provided directions on manually causing a crash, while I was able to test the keybinding successfully, it was useless for when the actual issue occurs.

When the issue occurs, the restart is almost instant, unless you have “automatic restart” enabled. Once again, I stress that when this problem occurs, no BSOD message appears, and despite the manual dump keybinding, no dump or log entry of what happened is made. That Control - Scroll Lock - Scroll Lock combination will crash the computer and make a memory dump, indicating the ability for Windows to do so has not been corrupted. I would also like to mention this is a fairly fresh installation of Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit that has no issues outside of the one being presented here.

I will be very displeased if the developers and yourself ignore this, on the basis of not having a memory dump. I’m sorry, but from all that I’ve tested, in this specific scenario, Windows cannot create a memory dump or even log an event as to what happened. From what I understand (and do correct me if I have this wrong), CIS is running at hypervisor level with Enhanced Protected Mode, provided that hardware virtualization is enabled. I have no idea how Windows would handle a crash at hypervisor level, but from the issue presently experienced, it either has no idea what to do and fails to make a dump/error event of the problem or it is being blocked from doing so because or by CIS being at hypervisor level (aka beyond the machine, so to speak).

I would also like to mention in testing that TeamSpeak 3 with hardware virtualization and Enhanced Protected Mode enabled, all keybindings stop working and no keybindings can be created. Like the problem originally stated, this problem went away upon disabling hardware virtualization in BIOS, though disabling Enhanced Protected Mode would also do the same.

To replicate the original problem, the best that I can give you is the means to do so. As such, provided CIS is installed, has Enhanced Protected Mode enabled, and hardware virtualization is also enabled in BIOS, download and install the StarCraft II Starter Edition here - https://us.battle.net/account/sc2/starter-edition/ and attempt to run it. You should encounter the exact problem in question.

To replicate the TeamSpeak 3 Problem, repeat the process above but simply install TeamSpeak 3 from here - TeamSpeak Downloads | TeamSpeak based on the 32-bit or 64-bit you possess. Proceed through the normal process of installing TeamSpeak and when it comes to how you want your voice to be transmitted, select Push to talk and attempting to set a keybinding will fail.

#12

I’ve made some edits. Do these modifications reflect your bug report?

Thank you.

#13

I would appreciate if we could track this one as a separate bug report.

That simplifies everything.

Thank you.

#14

I would like to also point out, as I stated in the original posting, Heroes of the Storm (Home - Heroes of the Storm) will cause the same problem, as it has a similar engine to that of StarCraft II. Less people would have access to the present version of the technical alpha, but I wanted to let you folks know that this was primarily used for testing the problem on my end.

#15

Added.

#16

Thank you very much for your report in standard format, with all information supplied. The care you have taken is much appreciated by Comodo, and will increase the likelihood that this bug can be fixed.

Developers may or may not communicate with you in the forum or by PM/IM, depending on time availability and need. Because you have supplied complete information they may be able to replicate and fix the bug without doing so.

Many thanks again.

#17

Hi, comodo internet security R80DFR_8.0.0.4344 is released! This issue should be fixed , please try it on the new build , thank you.

#18

I would like to confirm that StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm no longer instantly crash the PC while Enhanced Protected Mode and Intel Virtualization Technology are both enabled. I will be posting another bug report for another issue related with both those settings enabled shortly.

#19

In that case, I will move this report to “Resolved/Outdated Issues” section.

Thank you.