Linux Heap glibc 2.27 Double Free Exploitation

In this paper, I introduce the reader to a heap metadata corruption against the glibc 2.27 Linux Heap Allocator, ptmalloc. This attack is mitigated in the most recent 2.29 glibc. An attacker that forces the application to perform a double free can manipulate it to make malloc return an arbitrary pointer. This is achieved, by having malloc return a chunk of memory whilst still remaining in the tcache freelist. The attacker is then able to manipulate this memory to perform tcache poisoning and force malloc to return an arbitrary pointer. This is a powerful primitive, and with appropriate application logic is equivalent of a write-what-where.

Linux Heap glibc 2.27 Double Free Exploitation.PDF

Popular posts from this blog

Empowering Women in Cybersecurity: InfoSect's 2024 Training Initiative

 InfoSect has always been committed to fostering diversity and inclusion within the cybersecurity industry, with a special focus on encouraging those who identify as women to excel in the technical streams. We're excited to announce that in 2024, we're taking our commitment to the next level. Following the resounding success of our 2022 initiative, we are proud to double our efforts and expand our training opportunities for women in cybersecurity. HackerChix: Uniting Women in Cybersecurity In 2017, InfoSect introduced HackerChix, a vibrant community that provides a platform for women to connect, support, and inspire one another in the world of cybersecurity. This initiative has been a constant presence at BSides Canberra every year.   Doubling Down on Education To empower more women with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in cybersecurity, InfoSect is thrilled to announce a significant expansion of its training offerings in 2024. Thanks to the generous sponsorshi
Read more

C++ Memory Corruption (std::string) - part 4

  Summary This is the next part of the C++ memory corruption series*. In this post, we'll look at corrupting the std:string object in Linux and see what exploitation primitives we can gain. * https://blog.infosectcbr.com.au/2020/08/c-memory-corruption-part-1.html * https://blog.infosectcbr.com.au/2022/01/c-memory-corruption-stdvector-part-2.html  *  https://blog.infosectcbr.com.au/2022/03/c-memory-corruption-stdlist-part-3.html Author: Dr Silvio Cesare Introduction C++ is a common language for memory corruption. However, there is much more literature on exploiting C programs and little on C++ programs. C++ presents new classes, objects, and data structures which can all be effectively used for building exploitation primitives. In this post, we'll look at corrupting the std::string class and see what specific primitives we can obtain. std::string We note that the object stored in memory for a basic string consists firstly of the backing pointer to the string contents. Se
Read more

C++ Memory Corruption (std::vector) - part 2

Summary This is the 2nd part of the C++ memory corruption series*. In this post, we'll look at corrupting the std::vector class in Linux and see what exploitation primitives we can gain. We'll see that we can build arbitrary read/write primitives. * https://blog.infosectcbr.com.au/2020/08/c-memory-corruption-part-1.html   Author: Dr Silvio Cesare Introduction C++ is a common language for memory corruption. However, there is much more literature on exploiting C and not C++ programs. C++ presents new classes, objects, and data structures which can all be effectively used for building exploitation primitives.  In this post, we'll look at the std::vector class and see what specific primitives we can obtain.  Let's start by looking at /usr/include/c++/bits/stl_vector.h namespace std _GLIBCXX_VISIBILITY ( default ) { _GLIBCXX_BEGIN_NAMESPACE_VERSION _GLIBCXX_BEGIN_NAMESPACE_CONTAINER /// See bits/stl_deque.h's _Deque_base for an explanation. template < typename
Read more