load kernel extension through C API?

Question

Is it possible to load a kernel extension (kext) through a C API instead of using the system() call?

Answer 1

Yes, you want the KextManager API. In particular, KextManagerLoadKextWithIdentifier() is probably the function you'll want to use to load an installed kext, versus KextManagerLoadKextWithURL() if you want to load a kext that is not in /System/Library/Extensions or /Library/Extensions but e.g. in an .app bundle.

Answer 2

CFStringRef km_path = CFStringCreateWithCString(kCFAllocatorDefault, "/Library/Extensions/KauthORama.kext",
                                                    kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
CFURLRef km_url = CFURLCreateWithFileSystemPath(kCFAllocatorDefault, km_path,
                                           kCFURLPOSIXPathStyle, true);
OSReturn status  = KextManagerLoadKextWithURL(km_url, NULL);
if (status == kOSReturnSuccess){
        syslog(LOG_NOTICE, "Loaded!");
    }else{
        syslog(LOG_NOTICE, "Lodaed error: %d", errno);
    }