SHREE LEARNING ACADEMY

Software exploitation attacks are targeted at either known flaws, bugs, errors, and oversights, or the normal functions of an OS, protocols, services, or installed applications. One prevalent type of software exploitation is referred to as a buffer overflow attack.

In a buffer overflow attack, the attacker inputs data that exceeds the capacity of the designated input variable in a process. If the program is not coded to handle this excess input correctly, the additional data can be placed into the system's execution stack and may execute as a fully privileged operation. Buffer overflow attacks can cause a wide range of consequences such as system crashes, corrupted data, and user privilege escalation. Essentially, a hacker can cause almost any type of damage through this type of attack. The only effective ways to counter buffer overflow attacks are to patch software as issues are identified and to ensure that software is properly coded to perform input-validation checks before accepting input for processing.

After identifying a weakness in software, a hacker can create an exploit or attack tool that can be easily found and distributed online. Such tools can be utilized by anyone, regardless of their technical knowledge or skills, to target a victim. These individuals who rely solely on pre-made exploitation tools are referred to as "script kiddies."

A buffer overflow takes place when a program receives input that surpasses the intended size it was designed to handle or process. The program accepts and processes input that is beyond its intended capacity, leading to a buffer overflow. The additional data is then transferred to the CPU with sometimes no security limitations, as if it is a legitimate command, script, or system call, it will execute with system-level privileges. As shown in the figure below, due to bad payload the data got overwritten with same and other program's data. This bad payload will then be executed instead of the actual program's code. A buffer overflow can result in various consequences for a hacker, such as user account creation or privilege escalation, program crashes, website access, service disabling, system freezes or crashes, port opening, and utility execution. Given unrestricted access to a system, skilled attackers can potentially perform any action they desire by executing a command or script.

A buffer overflow attack may be regarded as a variant of a DoS attack in certain cases, as it takes place when a system is inundated with more data than it can manage, similar to a flooding attack. This is particularly accurate when the occurrence of a buffer overflow obstructs a system's capability to handle genuine requests or data.