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Understand stack Buffer overflow attack and defense Controls against program threats

Understand stack Buffer overflow attack and defense Controls against program threats. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). At the Carnegie Mellon University http://www.cert.org Formed after Morris Worm (after 1988)

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Understand stack Buffer overflow attack and defense Controls against program threats

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  1. Understand stack Buffer overflow attack and defense Controls against program threats

  2. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) • At the Carnegie Mellon University http://www.cert.org • Formed after Morris Worm (after 1988) • A long report on Morris Worm by Eugene Spafford of Purdue CERIAS http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=66093.66095 Year Total vulnerabilities 2007 7,236 2006 8,064 2005 5,990 2004 3,780 2003 3,784 2002 4,129 2001 2,437 2000 1,090 1999 417 1998 262 1997 311 1996 345 1995 171 Program control – specification & verification typical approach: specify a should-do list security needs: a shouldn’t-do list No silver bullet to achieve security effortlessly 1. exhaustive testing of all program states is infeasible 2. software engineering techniques evolve rapidly

  3. Some definitions and Types of flaws • Program security flaw: unexpected behavior • Error: human mistake • Fault: an incorrect step, command, process, data definition in a program • Failure: departure from system’s required behavior A taxonomy of program flaws Landwehr [LAN93] Inadvertent flaws Intentional flaws Validation, domain, serialization/aliasing, Identification/authentication Boundary condition violation Logic errors Non-malicious Malicious

  4. Java checks array bound – no buffer overflow Buffer overflows • A buffer (or array or string) is a space in which data can be held • In memory, finite capacity • Checking bound takes time/space char sample[10]; for(i=0;i<=9;i++) sample[i]=‘A’; sample[10]=‘B’; Replace code in system space with kernel privilege Figure 3-1  Places Where a Buffer Can Overflow.

  5. Process memory region Text Initialized) Data (uninitialized) Stack Text region: code, read-only data Stack is for procedure call – jump and return Use stack for: dynamically allocate local vars pass parameters to functions return values from functions Static variables. If data region expands or stack space runs out, new memory is added between data and stack segments Stack: an abstract data type. Last in, first out (LIFO) PUSH: add an element at top of stack POP: remove element at top of stack Aleph One. Smashing the stack for fun and profit. 96. http://www.phrack.com/issues.html?issue=49&id=14

  6. How a process uses its stack: Call stack, stack pointer • Stack buffer overflow occurs when information is written into the memory allocated to a variable on a stack, but the size of this information exceeds what was allocated at compile time. • HEAP buffer overflow – used in many drive-by downloads • Run-time stack, call stack, control stack, execution stack (all the same): • What a process uses to keep track of the sequence of subroutines called and local variables encountered • Stack frame: the consecutive stack space for each calling function that has not yet finished execution • Top stack frame: for function that just got called and is being executed • Stack pointer: memory location of the top of the stack • Stored in a register Avi Kak Computer Security lecture note

  7. Another example //example1.c: void function(int a, int b, int c) { char buffer1[5]; char buffer2[10]; } void main() { function(1,2,3); } sfp: saved frame pointer Bottom of memory Top of memory buffer2 buffer1 sfp ret a b c <------ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Bottom of stack Top of stack

  8. An example of stack and stack frame // ex.c int main() { int x = foo( 10 ); printf( "the value of x = %d\n", x ); return 0; } int foo( int i ) { int ii = i + i; int iii = bar( ii ); int iiii = iii; return iiii; } int bar( int j ) { int jj = j + j; return jj; } stack_ptr--> jj return-address to caller j iii ii return-address to caller i x argc argv stack frame for bar stack frame for foo stack frame for main

  9. Partial assembly code of ex.c in ex.S .type foo, @function foo: pushl %ebp movl %esp, %ebp subl $4, %esp movl 8(%ebp), %eax addl %eax, %eax movl %eax, (%esp) call bar leave ret .size foo, .-foo .globl bar .type bar, @function bar: pushl %ebp movl %esp, %ebp movl 8(%ebp), %eax addl %eax, %eax popl %ebp ret .size bar, .-bar .globl foo continues Compile with gcc -S –O ex.c –o ex.S

  10. Inspecting the call stack – assembly code of ex.c foo: pushl %ebp push value stored in register ebp onto stack movl %esp, %ebp move value in register esp to ebp subl $4, %esp substract 4 from value in esp (stack grows) movl 8(%ebp), %eax move i into an accumulator addl %eax, %eax i+i movl %eax, (%esp) move accumulator content into stack location pointed to by the content of esp register – so that local var ii becomes the argument to bar call bar call bar leave ret To inspect the assembly code, run gcc -S -O ex.c -o ex.S esp: stack pointer – top of the stack ebp: base pointer (aka frame pointer) – param/local var of current statck frame eip: instruction pointer – next CPU instruction to be executed Intel X86 32 bit architecture Avi Kak Computer Security lecture note

  11. void function(char *str) { char buffer[16]; strcpy(buffer,str); } void main() { char large_string[256]; int i; for( i = 0; i < 255; i++) large_string[i] = 'A'; function(large_string); } Another buffer overflow example Return address is overwritten and becomes 0x41414141 You get segmentation fault Worse, attacker can change flow of program Overwritten by ‘A’ (0x414141…) buffer sfp ret str* <------ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Bottom of stack Top of stack

  12. Observing buffer overflow in action – try this at home #include <stdio.h> int main() { while(1) foo(); } int foo(){ unsigned int yy = 0; char buffer[5]; char ch; int i = 0; printf("Say something: "); while ((ch = getchar()) != '\n') buffer[i++] = ch; buffer[i] = '\0'; printf("You said: %s\n", buffer); printf("The variable yy: %d\n", yy); return 0; } gcc -fno-stack-protector buffover2.c -o buffover2 Avi Kak Computer Security lecture note

  13. Heap overflow • Heap located above program code/global data • For use in dynamic data structures, e.g., linked lists • Can affect the memory following it • Unlike stack, there is no return address to overwrite • So aims to overwrite pointer to a function • E.g., a list of record containing data & their processing function

  14. Another type of buffer overflow (usually in web applications) Overflow when passing parameters to a routine http://www.somesite.com/userinout.asp?param1=(808)555-1212&param2=2009Jan17 Web developer may just allocate 20 bytes for param1. How does the program handle long phone number, e.g., 1000 digits?

  15. Defense against buffer overflow • Boundary checking, sanity checking by developers • Canaries: a know value on the stack just before the return address – canary word • Check the canary when function is to return • Stack guard by Crispin Cowan (a gcc extension) • Non-executable stacks • Address randomization • Compiler boundary checking • In Java • Java JVM may still be susceptible to buffer overflow attacks

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