CPU serial number

Question

How do I obtain the serial number of the CPU in a PC?

Answer 1

Based upon 'licensing' tag you have used for your question, you might get better results reading network MAC address. Identifying PC by a MAC address isn't totally unbreakable method for copy protection, still it is sometimes used.

Answer 2

There is no CPU serial ID (PSN; CPUID edx bit 18 "psn" Processor Serial Number) after Pentium III in Intel CPUs; and there was never any psn in AMD chips:

https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/watercooler-catchall/topic/308483 (at 2005)

However, keep in mind that only the Pentium III Xeon, Mobile Pentium III and Pentium III processors support the processor serial number feature introduced by the Pentium III processor. No other Intel processor supports the processor serial number feature

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_III#Controversy_about_privacy_issues

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPUID#EAX=3:_Processor_Serial_Number

EAX=3: Processor Serial Number See also: Pentium III § Controversy about privacy issues

This returns the processor's serial number. The processor serial number was introduced on Intel Pentium III, but due to privacy concerns, this feature is no longer implemented on later models (the PSN feature bit is always cleared). Transmeta's Efficeon and Crusoe processors also provide this feature. AMD CPUs however, do not implement this feature in any CPU models.

Answer 3

__get_cpuid (unsigned int __level, unsigned int *__eax, unsigned int *__ebx, unsigned int *__ecx, unsigned int *__edx);

• Header: #include <cpuid.h>

Note: The processor serial number was introduced on Intel Pentium III, but due to privacy concerns, this feature is no longer implemented on later models.

Source : wikipedia

Answer 4

Some more details please: operating system, language.

For example on Windows you can get it by using WMI and reading Win32_Processor.ProcessorId.

Answer 5

Executing the CPUID instruction with the proper register settings will retrieve the processor serial number in EAX, EBX, ECX, and EDX. However, this functionality is only available on Pentium 3 and later processors. Also on Pentium 4 and newer processors the instruction always returns 0x00000000 in all 4 registers. Later model Pentium 3's may also return 0x00000000's. The feature was primarily aimed at copy protection, allowing software to be linked to specific processors. It did not go over well with the community, and lawsuits ensued. The feature was removed from late model P3's and all newer processors. The feature is present in newer processors for compatibility reasons. it is rumored than you can special order processors with serial numbers, btu the minimum purchase is something like 1 million processors. For the specific register settings prior to executing the CPUID instruction, check Intels system programmer PDF available through their website.

Also -

#include <Windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <xmmintrin.h>
#include <iphlpapi.h>
#include <Rpc.h>

static void GetMACaddress(void);
static void uuidGetMACaddress(void);

int main(){
    SYSTEM_INFO SysInfo;
    GetSystemInfo(&SysInfo);
    printf("Processors - %d\n" , SysInfo.dwNumberOfProcessors);
    DWORD a , b , c , d , e;
    DWORD BasicLeaves;
    char* VendorID = (char*)malloc(20);
    char* message = (char*)malloc(20);
    _asm {
        pusha
        pushfd
        pop eax
        push eax
        xor eax , 0x00200000
        push eax
        popfd
        pushfd
        pop ecx
        pop eax
        xor eax , ecx
        mov [a] , eax
        }
    if(a & 0x00200000){
        printf("CPUID opcode supported.\n");
        } else {
        printf("CPUID opcode not supported, exiting...\n");
        return 0;
        }

    //DWORD* pa = &a[0];
    //DWORD* pb = &a[1];
    //DWORD* pc = &a[2];
    //DWORD* pd = &a[3];
    //a[4] = 0;
    e = 0;
    __asm {
        mov eax , 0
        cpuid
        mov [BasicLeaves] , eax;
        mov [b] , ebx;
        mov [c] , ecx;
        mov [d] , edx;
        }
    memcpy(&VendorID[0] , &b , 4);
    memcpy(&VendorID[4] , &d , 4);
    memcpy(&VendorID[8] , &c , 4);
    VendorID[12] = 0;

    printf("%d Basic Leaves\nVendorID - %s\n" , BasicLeaves , VendorID);

    __asm {
        mov eax , 1
        cpuid
        mov [a] , eax;
        mov [b] , ebx;
        mov [c] , ecx;
        mov [d] , edx;
        }
    if(d & 0x00000001) printf("FPU\n");
    if(d & 0x00000200) printf("APIC On-Chip\n");
    if(d & 0x00040000) printf("Processor Serial Number Present\n");
    if(d & 0x00800000) printf("MMX\n");
    if(d & 0x01000000) printf("SSE\n");
    if(d & 0x02000000) printf("SSE2\n");
    if(d & 0x08000000) printf("Hyperthreading (HTT)\n");

    if(c & 0x00000001) printf("SSE3\n");
    if(c & 0x00000200) printf("SSSE3\n");
    if(c & 0x00080000) printf("SSE4.1\n");
    if(c & 0x00100000) printf("SSE4.2\n");
    if(c & 0x02000000) printf("AES\n");


    __asm {
        mov eax , 0x80000000
        cpuid
        and eax , 0x7fffffff;
        mov [a] , eax;
        mov [b] , ebx;
        mov [c] , ecx;
        mov [d] , edx;
        }

    printf("%d Extended Leaves\n" , a);

    printf("Processor Brand String - ");
    __asm {
        mov eax , 0x80000002
        cpuid
        mov [a] , eax;
        mov [b] , ebx;
        mov [c] , ecx;
        mov [d] , edx;
        }
    memcpy(&message[0] , &a , 4);
    memcpy(&message[4] , &b , 4);
    memcpy(&message[8] , &c , 4);
    memcpy(&message[12] , &d , 4);
    message[16] = 0;
    printf("%s" , message);

    __asm {
        mov eax , 0x80000003
        cpuid
        mov [a] , eax;
        mov [b] , ebx;
        mov [c] , ecx;
        mov [d] , edx;
        }

    memcpy(&message[0] , &a , 4);
    memcpy(&message[4] , &b , 4);
    memcpy(&message[8] , &c , 4);
    memcpy(&message[12] , &d , 4);
    message[16] = 0;
    printf("%s" , message);

    __asm {
        mov eax , 0x80000004
        cpuid
        mov [a] , eax;
        mov [b] , ebx;
        mov [c] , ecx;
        mov [d] , edx;
        popa
        }
    memcpy(&message[0] , &a , 4);
    memcpy(&message[4] , &b , 4);
    memcpy(&message[8] , &c , 4);
    memcpy(&message[12] , &d , 4);
    message[16] = 0;
    printf("%s\n" , message);

    char VolumeName[256]; DWORD VolumeSerialNumber; DWORD MaxComponentLength; DWORD FileSystemFlags; char FileSystemNameBuffer[256]; 
    GetVolumeInformationA("c:\\" , VolumeName , 256 , &VolumeSerialNumber , &MaxComponentLength , &FileSystemFlags , (LPSTR)&FileSystemNameBuffer , 256);
    printf("Serialnumber - %X\n" , VolumeSerialNumber);

    GetMACaddress();
    uuidGetMACaddress();

    return 0;
    }

// Fetches the MAC address and prints it
static void GetMACaddress(void){
    IP_ADAPTER_INFO AdapterInfo[16];        // Allocate information 
                                            // for up to 16 NICs
    DWORD dwBufLen = sizeof(AdapterInfo);   // Save memory size of buffer

    DWORD dwStatus = GetAdaptersInfo(       // Call GetAdapterInfo
    AdapterInfo,                            // [out] buffer to receive data
    &dwBufLen);                             // [in] size of receive data buffer
    //assert(dwStatus == ERROR_SUCCESS);    // Verify return value is 
                                            // valid, no buffer overflow

    PIP_ADAPTER_INFO pAdapterInfo = AdapterInfo; // Contains pointer to
                                            // current adapter info
    do {
        printf("Adapter MAC Address - %X-%X-%X-%X-%X-%X\n" , pAdapterInfo->Address[0] , pAdapterInfo->Address[1] , pAdapterInfo->Address[2] , pAdapterInfo->Address[3] , pAdapterInfo->Address[4] , pAdapterInfo->Address[5]);
        printf("Adapter IP Address  - %s\n" , pAdapterInfo->CurrentIpAddress);
        printf("Adapter Type        - %d\n" , pAdapterInfo->Type);
        printf("Adapter Name        - %s\n" , pAdapterInfo->AdapterName);
        printf("Adapter Description - %s\n" , pAdapterInfo->Description);
        uuidGetMACaddress();

        printf("\n");
        //PrintMACaddress(pAdapterInfo->Address); // Print MAC address
        pAdapterInfo = pAdapterInfo->Next;      // Progress through 
                                                // linked list
        } while(pAdapterInfo);                  // Terminate if last adapter
    }

// Fetches the MAC address and prints it

static void uuidGetMACaddress(void)
{
  unsigned char MACData[6];

  UUID uuid;
  UuidCreateSequential( &uuid );    // Ask OS to create UUID

  for (int i=2; i<8; i++)  // Bytes 2 through 7 inclusive 
                           // are MAC address
    MACData[i - 2] = uuid.Data4[i];

  printf("UUID MAC Address - %X-%X-%X-%X-%X-%X\n" , MACData[0] , MACData[1] , MACData[2] , MACData[3] , MACData[4] , MACData[5]);
}//*/

Answer 6

In windows, I am sure there is a system call, In linux one could try "sudo lshw" but most kernels do not seem to support CPU serial numbers, and preliminary research seems to indicate that the general outrage against uniquely identifiable computers means that there is no perfect answer.

What are you trying to do? Almost certainly someone has done it before and it may be wise to reuse or emulate what they have done.