Description

• Buffers are areas of memory that hold data. Buffer overflows happens when data overruns the buffer boundary and overwrites adjacent memory locations. If the adjacent memory location stores executable code, an attacker may send a malicious code input and have their code executed instead of the intended one.
• This vulnerability has a very high severity impact, since it can can corrupt data, crash the program, or execute malicious code.
• C and C++ are languages often associated with buffer overflows.
• Although it is rare for web-developers to write code in C or C++, Apache HTTP Server, IIS and Nginx servers have been found to be vulnerable to buffer overflows.

Prevention

• If possible, use Python, Java or .NET languages
• Implement secure functions

• Deploy security patches as soon as they become available

Code Review

Testing

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_overflow
• https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Buffer_Overflow
• https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Testing_for_Buffer_Overflow_(OTG-INPVAL-014)
• https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Buffer_overflow_attack
• https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Reviewing_Code_for_Buffer_Overruns_and_Overflows
• https://ctf101.org/binary-exploitation/buffer-overflow/
• https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/buffer-overflow-attack-with-example/
• https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/threats/buffer-overflows-dummies-481
• http://www.cse.scu.edu/~tschwarz/coen152_05/Lectures/BufferOverflow.html
• https://dhavalkapil.com/blogs/Buffer-Overflow-Exploit/
• http://projects.webappsec.org/w/page/13246916/Buffer%20Overflow
• https://www.dummies.com/programming/networking/buffer-overflow-hacks-in-web-applications/
• https://www.whitelist1.com/2018/04/buffer-overflows-and-web-applications.html
• https://www.hacksplaining.com/prevention/buffer-overflows