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Is there an example program that illustrates how a buffer overflow attack actually executes arbitrary code? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've found lots of examples in C of programs illustrating buffer Overflows, including those of pointer rewrites which has been of great help in understanding how a buffer overflow works and memory safety etc. but I've yet to be able to find an example illustrating how such a buffer overflow can rewrite a pointer in such a way that it actually results in code execution?

Is this just not a thing, or is my google-fu rust y? Tried ChatGPT and my local Mistral and they both seem unable to spit out precisely what I'm asking, so maybe I'm wording this question wrong.

If anyone in here knows, could point me in the right direction? Thanks y'all btw love this community 🧡

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Interesting point.

This makes it seem like the whole concern about memory safety has become almost redundant, the chances of exploitation are just so remote, it must take incomprehensible work to discover a functional exploit that would be useful to attackers in modern software