I can't figure out how to pass a command to the windows terminal input control. C++

Question

I am trying to write a program with which it will be possible to send a command highlighted in the browser to the terminal. I stumble on the fact that I can't figure out how to transfer any command to the terminal that my program opens. That's how I launch the terminal:

PROCESS_INFORMATION processInfo;
STARTUPINFO startupInfo = { sizeof(startupInfo) };
ZeroMemory(&startupInfo, sizeof(startupInfo));
startupInfo.cb = sizeof(startupInfo);

ZeroMemory(&processInfo, sizeof(processInfo));

char cmdPath[] = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe";
CreateProcess(cmdPath, nullptr, nullptr, nullptr, FALSE,
    CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, nullptr, nullptr, &startupInfo, &processInfo);

Answer 1

RbMm's opinion is completely right. No matter supplying input to cmd or retrieve it's output. Pipe is an efficient method. Here is the sample:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>    

#define BUFFER_LENGTH 1024
void handle_cleanup(STARTUPINFOW,  PROCESS_INFORMATION);
DWORD WINAPI ReadPipe(LPVOID);

HANDLE CMD_WRITE, PARENT_READ, CMD_READ, PARENT_WRITE;

int CreateProcessCMD(void){
   DWORD ThreadID;
   DWORD bytes_written;
   HANDLE hProcessCMD;
   
   STARTUPINFOW PSTARTUPINFO;
   PROCESS_INFORMATION PPROCESSINFO;
   SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES SECURITYATTR;

   SECURITYATTR.nLength = sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES);
   SECURITYATTR.bInheritHandle = TRUE;
   SECURITYATTR.lpSecurityDescriptor = NULL;

   if(!CreatePipe(&PARENT_READ,&CMD_WRITE, &SECURITYATTR,0)){
       printf("Could not create pipe");
       return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
   printf("CreatePipe(PARENT_READ, CMD_WRITE) -  Success!\n");
   
   if(!CreatePipe(&CMD_READ,&PARENT_WRITE, &SECURITYATTR,0)){
      printf("Could not create pipe");
      return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
   printf("CreatePipe(CMD_READ, PARENT_WRITE) - Success!\n");

   ZeroMemory(&PSTARTUPINFO, sizeof(STARTUPINFO));
   printf("ZeroMemory(&PSTARTUPINFO, sizeof(STARTUPINFO) -  Zeroing STARTUPINFO structure success!\n");
   
   PSTARTUPINFO.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFO);
   PSTARTUPINFO.hStdOutput = CMD_WRITE;
   printf("CMD_WRITE ---> %x\n", CMD_WRITE);
   printf("STARTINFO.hStsOutput ---> %x\n", PSTARTUPINFO.hStdOutput);
   PSTARTUPINFO.hStdInput = CMD_READ;
   printf("CMD_READ ---> %x\n", CMD_READ);
   printf("STARTINFO.hStdsInput ---> %x\n", PSTARTUPINFO.hStdInput);
   PSTARTUPINFO.dwFlags |= STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
   PSTARTUPINFO.dwFlags |= STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
   PSTARTUPINFO.wShowWindow = SW_SHOWNORMAL;
   BOOL success = CreateProcessW(L"C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe",
                      NULL,
                      NULL,
                      NULL,
                      TRUE,
                      NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS | CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE,
                      NULL,
                      NULL,
                      &PSTARTUPINFO,
                      &PPROCESSINFO);
   if(!success){
      printf("CreateProcessW() --> Could not create process!\n");
      printf("[-] Closing program");
      return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
   
   printf("C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe started with PID ---> %i\n", PPROCESSINFO.dwProcessId);

   HANDLE hThread = CreateThread(NULL, 0, ReadPipe, NULL, 0, &ThreadID);
   if(hThread == NULL){
      printf("CreateThread() --> Failed, Returned %i\n", GetLastError());
      return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
   printf("CreateThread() --> New thread created with TID --> %i\n", ThreadID);
   Sleep(2000);
      
   while(TRUE){   
      char cmd[256];
      printf("Prompt> ");
      gets(cmd);
      strcat_s(cmd, "\r\n");
      WriteFile(PARENT_WRITE, cmd, strlen(cmd), &bytes_written, NULL);
      printf("WriteFile() --> Wrote %i bytes\n", bytes_written);
   }
   
   hProcessCMD = PPROCESSINFO.hProcess;
   switch (WaitForSingleObject(hProcessCMD, INFINITE))
   {
   case WAIT_ABANDONED :
      printf("WaitForSingleObject(hProcess, Timeout) ---> Returned WAIT_ABANDONED\n");
      break;
   case WAIT_OBJECT_0:
      printf("WaitForSingleObject(hProcess, Timeout) ---> The state of the specified object is signaled (Process has terminated)\n");
      break;
   case WAIT_TIMEOUT:
      printf("WaitForSingleObject(hProcess, Timeout) ---> Returned WAIT_TIMEOUT\n");
      break;
   case WAIT_FAILED:
      printf("WaitForSingleObject(hProcess, Timeout) ---> Failed, Returned &i\n", GetLastError());
      break;
   default:
      break;
   }
   

   handle_cleanup(PSTARTUPINFO, PPROCESSINFO);
   return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

int main(void){

   printf("Parent PID ------> %u\n", GetCurrentProcessId());
   if(CreateProcessCMD()){
      printf("CreateProcessCMD() - Function returned EXIT_FAILURE\n");
      return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }
   return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

void handle_cleanup(STARTUPINFOW startupinfo,  PROCESS_INFORMATION  processinfo ){
    if(!CloseHandle(startupinfo.hStdInput)) printf("[-] Could not close stdin handle\n");
    if(!CloseHandle(startupinfo.hStdOutput)) printf("[-] Could not close stdout handle\n");
    if(!CloseHandle(startupinfo.hStdError)) printf("[-] Could not close stderr handle\n");
    if(!CloseHandle(processinfo.hProcess)) printf("[-] Could not close process handle\n");
    if(!CloseHandle(processinfo.hThread)) printf("[-] Could not close thread handle\n");
}


DWORD  WINAPI ReadPipe(LPVOID lpThreadParameter){
     char buffer[BUFFER_LENGTH];
     
     DWORD bytes_read_from_pipe;
     while(TRUE) {
        int ret = ReadFile(PARENT_READ, buffer, BUFFER_LENGTH, &bytes_read_from_pipe, NULL);
        printf("ReadFile() --> Read %i\n", bytes_read_from_pipe);
        if(bytes_read_from_pipe>0){
           printf("%s\n", buffer);
           ZeroMemory(buffer, BUFFER_LENGTH);
           bytes_read_from_pipe = 0;
           continue;
        }
        break;
   }
}