Talk:Heap overflow

first comment
one comment I have for this page is that it seems to imply that the only way to exploit a heap overflow is by corrupting malloc meta data, in reality any linked list will do for the pointer exchange, its often possible to exploit heap overflows even without being able to overwrite any linked list pointers by corrupting other data such as function pointers or specific data structure fields...I've written more than my share of heap overflow exploits and in my experience overwriting malloc meta data isn't even the easiest way for most bugs... --Michael Lynn


 * I put the above into a section -- it only looked like it was part of the header because it predated sections and the header. Markbassett (talk) 16:40, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

Proposal to upgrade article importance
Heap Overflows represent a considerable fraction of the number of exploits today. This article is a good start but deserves considerable expansion.

I personally strive to improve this article with the following additions (and invite others to as well!):


 * Review the development of heap overflows, the work of Solar Designer, return-to-libc and the `unlink` attack.
 * Review heap overflows in relation to a simplified or classic allocator such as Doug Lea's dlmalloc
 * A short C example, with a note about contemporary compiler and C-library consistency checking feature which may make the C example fail.
 * An explanation of heap overflow techniques for many different memory allocators
 * In order to improve reliability and subvert protection mechanisms, hackers have modified different internal program structures with the "single word write primitive" which is the end result of some heap overflows. Reviewing the clever techniques used would be interesting and informative.

Additionally, this article may benefit those new to programming with a short remark clarifing heap overflows as sharing no structural feature with a stack based buffer overflows beyond their etiology from the overrun of a buffers boundary.

Zetavolt (talk) 00:44, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Proposal for external link
I suggest to add the following article as an external reference:

A heap of risk, Buffer overflows on the heap and how they are exploited

http://www.heise-security.co.uk/articles/74634

It is an in depth explanation of how buffer overflows occur, how they are exploited and even features a simple heap management implementation for demo purposes. The author FX is a well respected expert in this field.

Please note that I am a heise editor. So I will not add the link myself. Feel free to inform me, if this kind of suggestion is not appreciated.

193.99.145.162 08:40, 12 June 2007 (UTC) / ju (ju at heisec.de)

Tag on citation style removed
There was a tag dated Feb 2013 about links to external web sites being part of the body.

I have revised these into web cites and then removed the tag. Markbassett (talk) 17:58, 29 March 2016 (UTC)