Windows Shell Items (AKA "shellbags") is an undocumented set of structures used internally within Windows to identify paths in Windows Folder Hierarchy. It is widely used in Windows Shell (and most visible in File Explorer), both as in-memory and in-file structures. Some formats embed them, namely:
The format is mostly undocumented, and is known to vary between various Windows versions.
This page hosts a formal specification of Windows Shell Items using Kaitai Struct. This specification can be automatically translated into a variety of programming languages to get a parsing library.
meta:
id: windows_shell_items
title: Windows Shell Items
xref:
forensicswiki: shell_item
license: CC0-1.0
endian: le
doc: |
Windows Shell Items (AKA "shellbags") is an undocumented set of
structures used internally within Windows to identify paths in
Windows Folder Hierarchy. It is widely used in Windows Shell (and
most visible in File Explorer), both as in-memory and in-file
structures. Some formats embed them, namely:
* Windows Shell link files (.lnk) Windows registry
* Windows registry "ShellBags" keys
The format is mostly undocumented, and is known to vary between
various Windows versions.
doc-ref: https://github.com/libyal/libfwsi/blob/main/documentation/Windows%20Shell%20Item%20format.asciidoc
seq:
- id: items
-orig-id: IDList
type: shell_item
repeat: until
repeat-until: _.len_data == 0
doc-ref: 'https://winprotocoldoc.blob.core.windows.net/productionwindowsarchives/MS-SHLLINK/[MS-SHLLINK].pdf Section 2.2.1'
types:
shell_item:
-orig-id: ItemID
doc-ref: 'https://winprotocoldoc.blob.core.windows.net/productionwindowsarchives/MS-SHLLINK/[MS-SHLLINK].pdf Section 2.2.2'
seq:
- id: len_data
type: u2
- id: data
size: len_data - 2
type: shell_item_data
if: len_data >= 2
shell_item_data:
seq:
- id: code
type: u1
- id: body1
type:
switch-on: code
cases:
0x1f: root_folder_body
- id: body2
type:
switch-on: code & 0x70
cases:
0x20: volume_body
0x30: file_entry_body
root_folder_body:
doc-ref: 'https://github.com/libyal/libfwsi/blob/main/documentation/Windows%20Shell%20Item%20format.asciidoc#32-root-folder-shell-item'
seq:
- id: sort_index
type: u1
- id: shell_folder_id
size: 16
# TODO: various extensions
volume_body:
doc-ref: 'https://github.com/libyal/libfwsi/blob/main/documentation/Windows%20Shell%20Item%20format.asciidoc#33-volume-shell-item'
seq:
- id: flags
type: u1
file_entry_body:
doc-ref: 'https://github.com/libyal/libfwsi/blob/main/documentation/Windows%20Shell%20Item%20format.asciidoc#34-file-entry-shell-item'
seq:
- type: u1
- id: file_size
type: u4
- id: last_mod_time
type: u4
- id: file_attrs
type: u2
instances:
is_dir:
value: _parent.code & 0x01 != 0
is_file:
value: _parent.code & 0x02 != 0