Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is a common attack mechanism that can occur due to buggy code and careless programming practices?
What is a common attack mechanism that can occur due to buggy code and careless programming practices?
- SQL Injection
- Denial of Service
- Buffer overflow (correct)
- Cross-site scripting
What is a common attack mechanism?
What is a common attack mechanism?
- Denial of service
- Cross-site scripting
- Buffer overflow (correct)
- SQL injection
When does a stack overflow occur?
When does a stack overflow occur?
- When a process attempts to allocate more memory than is available
- When a process attempts to access memory that it does not have permission to access
- When a process attempts to store data beyond the limits of a fixed-sized buffer (correct)
- When a process attempts to execute code that is not allowed by the operating system
What makes prevention techniques a major concern?
What makes prevention techniques a major concern?
What can happen when adjacent memory locations are overwritten due to a buffer overflow?
What can happen when adjacent memory locations are overwritten due to a buffer overflow?
What happens when a process attempts to store data beyond the limits of a fixed-sized buffer?
What happens when a process attempts to store data beyond the limits of a fixed-sized buffer?
What does an attacker need to identify in order to exploit a buffer overflow?
What does an attacker need to identify in order to exploit a buffer overflow?
What can overwriting adjacent memory locations lead to?
What can overwriting adjacent memory locations lead to?
What does an attacker need to exploit a buffer overflow?
What does an attacker need to exploit a buffer overflow?
How can vulnerable programs be identified?
How can vulnerable programs be identified?
How can vulnerable programs be identified?
How can vulnerable programs be identified?
Which languages are vulnerable to buffer overflow due to allowing direct access to memory?
Which languages are vulnerable to buffer overflow due to allowing direct access to memory?
What programming languages are vulnerable to buffer overflow?
What programming languages are vulnerable to buffer overflow?
What are stack buffer overflows?
What are stack buffer overflows?
Which of the following C standard library routines are considered unsafe?
Which of the following C standard library routines are considered unsafe?
What are stack buffer overflows?
What are stack buffer overflows?
What are some examples of attacks that have used buffer overflow vulnerabilities?
What are some examples of attacks that have used buffer overflow vulnerabilities?
Which of these is NOT a common unsafe C standard library routine?
Which of these is NOT a common unsafe C standard library routine?
Why are prevention techniques for buffer overflow still a major concern?
Why are prevention techniques for buffer overflow still a major concern?
What are some examples of attacks that have used buffer overflow vulnerabilities?
What are some examples of attacks that have used buffer overflow vulnerabilities?
Study Notes
- Buffer overflow is a common attack mechanism
- Prevention techniques are known but still a major concern due to buggy code and careless programming practices
- Stack overflows occur when a process attempts to store data beyond the limits of a fixed-sized buffer
- Overwriting adjacent memory locations can lead to corruption of program data, unexpected transfer of control, memory access violations, and execution of code chosen by attacker
- To exploit a buffer overflow, an attacker needs to identify a vulnerability in a program that can be triggered using externally sourced data under the attacker's control
- Identifying vulnerable programs can be done by inspecting program source, tracing program execution, or using fuzzing tools
- C and related languages are vulnerable to buffer overflow due to allowing direct access to memory
- Stack buffer overflows occur when buffer is located on the stack and are still being widely exploited
- Some common unsafe C standard library routines include gets(), sprintf(), strcat(), and strcpy()
- Exploits of buffer overflow vulnerabilities have been used in various attacks, including the Morris Internet Worm, Code Red worm, Slammer worm, and Sasser worm.
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Description
Take this quiz to test your knowledge on buffer overflow attacks and prevention techniques. Learn about the dangers of buggy code and careless programming practices, stack overflows, and how overwriting adjacent memory locations can lead to program data corruption and unexpected transfer of control. Find out how attackers exploit vulnerabilities in programs and how to identify vulnerable programs using various tools. Discover why C and related languages are vulnerable to buffer overflow and which standard library routines to avoid. Test your knowledge on famous attacks that have utilized buffer overflow vulnerabilities.
