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work/01paper.tex

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 \documentclass[conference]{IEEEtran}
 \IEEEoverridecommandlockouts{}
-% The preceding line is only needed to identify funding in the first footnote. If that is unneeded, please comment it out.
+% The preceding line is only needed to identify funding in the first footnote.
+% If that is unneeded, please comment it out.
 \usepackage{csquotes}
 \usepackage[style=ieee,backend=biber]{biblatex}
 
@@ -30,7 +31,8 @@
 %%fuer abkuerzungen begin
 \usepackage[acronym,hyperfirst = false]{glossaries}
 \glsdisablehyper{}
-%\usepackage[acronym,acronymlists={main, abbreviationlist},shortcuts,toc,description,footnote]{glossaries}
+%\usepackage[acronym,acronymlists={main,
+%abbreviationlist},shortcuts,toc,description,footnote]{glossaries}
 \newglossary[clg]{abbreviationlist}{cyi}{cyg}{List of Abbreviations}
 \newglossary[slg]{symbolslist}{syi}{syg}{Symbols}
 \renewcommand{\firstacronymfont}[1]{\emph{#1}}
@@ -149,9 +151,18 @@ attacker controlled code.
 
 This is only one of several types and exploitation techniques but the general
 idea stays the same: ovewrite the return address or some kind of function
-pointer (e.g. in vtables or the \ac{plt}) and once that function is called, the
+pointer (e.g.\ in vtables or the \ac{plt}) and once that function is called, the
 execution flow is hijacked and the attacker can execute arbitiary code.
 
+The most trivial kinds of exploits is known as a \mintinline{ASM}{NOP} sled.
+Here the attacker appends as many \mintinline{ASM}{NOP} instructions before any
+shellcode (e.g.\ to invoke \mintinline{shell}{/bin/sh}) and points the
+overwritten \ac{ip} somewhere inside the \mintinline{ASM}{NOP}s. The execution
+\enquote{slides} through the \mintinline{ASM}{NOP}s until it reaches the
+shellcode. Most of the migration techniques described in this paper protect
+against this kind of exploit but there are different and more complex ways of
+exploiting \acp{bof} that are not that easily migrated.
+
 \subsection{Implications}
 
 \section{Concept and Methods}\label{ref:concept}
@@ -171,7 +182,9 @@ The easiest and maybe single most effective method to prevent \acp{bof} is to
 check, if a write or read operation is out of bounds. This requires storing the
 size of a buffer together with the pointer to the buffer and check for each read
 or write in the buffer, if it is in bounds at runtime. Still almost any language
-that comes with a runtime, uses runtime checking.
+that comes with a runtime, uses runtime checking. For this technique to be
+effective effective in general, writes to a raw pointer must be disallowed.
+Otherwise the security checks can be circumvented.
 
 \subsection{Prevent/Detect Overriding Return Address}
 
@@ -224,11 +237,16 @@ exploiting technique uses existing calls to the libc with attacker controlled
 parameters, e.g.\ if the programm uses the \mintinline{shell}{system} command,
 the attacker can plant \mintinline{shell}{/bin/sh} as parameter on the stack,
 followed by the address of \mintinline{shell}{system} and get a shell on the
-system. \ac{rop} (a superset of ret-to-libc exploits) uses so called ROP
-gadgets, combinations of memory modifying instructions followed by the ret
-instruction to build instruction chains, that execute the desired shellcode.
-This is done by placing the desired return addresses in the right order on the
-stack and reuses the existing code to circumvent the w\^{}x protection.
+system. \ac{rop} (a superset of ret-to-libc exploits) uses so called \ac{rop}
+gadgets, combinations of memory modifying instructions followed by the
+\mintinline{ASM}{RET} instruction to build instruction chains, that execute the
+desired shellcode. This is done by placing the desired return addresses in the
+right order on the stack and reuses the existing code to circumvent the w\^{}x
+protection. These combinations of memory modification followed by
+\mintinline{ASM}{RET} instructions are called \ac{rop} chains and are turing
+complete~\cite{Rop2007}, so in theory it is possible to implement any imaginable
+payload, as long as the exploited program contains enough gadgets and the
+overflowing buffer has enough space.
 
 
 \section{Discussion}\label{ref:discussion}
@@ -238,10 +256,11 @@ stack and reuses the existing code to circumvent the w\^{}x protection.
 \subsubsection{\ac{aslr}}
 
 \Ac{aslr} has been really effective and wildly used in production. It is
-included in most major operating systems~\cite{FBSDaslr}. Some
-even use kernel \ac{aslr}~\cite{Linuxaslr}. Since this mechanism is active at %TODO
-runtime, it does not require any changes in the code itself, the programm only
-has to be compiled as a \ac{pie}.
+included in most major operating systems~\cite{FBSDaslr}. Some even use kernel
+\ac{aslr}~\cite{Linuxaslr}. Since this mechanism is active at runtime, it does
+not require any changes in the code itself, the programm only has to be compiled
+as a \ac{pie}. On 32-bit CPUs, only 16-bit of the address are randomized. These
+16-bit can be brute forced in a few minutes or seconds~\cite{AslrEffective2004}.
 
 \subsubsection{w\^{}x}
 

work/bibliography.bib

@@ -8,6 +8,13 @@ own:
   year = {2002}
 }
 
+@inproceedings{Rop2007,
+  author = {{Shacham, Hovav}},
+  booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 14th ACM conference on Computer and communications security (CCS)}},
+  title = {{The Geometry of Innocent Flesh on the Bone: Return-into-libc without Function Calls (on the x86)}},
+  year = {2007}
+}
+
 @inproceedings{Detection2018,
   author = {{Chaim, Marcos and Santos, Daniel and Cruzes, Daniela}},
   booktitle = {{International Journal of Systems and Software Security and Protection (IJSSSP)}},
@@ -46,6 +53,13 @@ year = {2001}
   year = {1998}
 }
 
+@inproceedings{AslrEffective2004,
+  year = {2004},
+  booktitle = {{11\textsuperscript{th} ACM conference on Computer and communications security (CCS)}},
+  title = {{On the Effectiveness of Address-Space Randomization}},
+  author = {{Shacham, Hovav and Page, Matthew and Pfaff, Ben and Goh, Eu-Jin and Modadugu, Nagendra and Boneh, Dan}}
+}
+
 @ARTICLE{Smashing2004,
   author={J. {Pincus} and B. {Baker}},
   journal={{IEEE Security \& Privacy}},