NEU CY 5770 Software Vulnerabilities and Security

Fall 2024, T 11:45 am - 1:25 pm, R 2:50 pm - 4:30 pm, Robinson Hall 109

General Information

Instructor

Dr. Ziming Zhao
E-mail: z.zhao@northeastern.edu
Homepage: https://zzm7000.github.io/
Fall 2024, T 11:45 am - 1:25 pm, R 2:50 pm - 4:30 pm
Office hours will be T 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm or by appointment
513 or Zoom at https://northeastern.zoom.us/j/99475115019?pwd=4dMw5mmuLNHHh0LS9CCll93xapoB4o.1
CTF platform (only available on NEU campus) http://cy5770-cacti.khoury.northeastern.edu
The lecture recordings will be posted online after each class.

Overview

This course is designed to provide students with good understanding of the theories, principles, techniques and tools used for software and system hacking and hardening. Students will study, in-depth, binary reverse engineering, vulnerability classes, vulnerability analysis, exploit and shellcode development, defensive solutions, etc. to understand how to crack and protect native software. In particular, this class covers offensive techniques including stack-based buffer overflow, heap security, format string vulnerability, return-oriented programming, etc. This class also covers defensive techniques including canary, shadow stack, address space layout randomization, control-flow integrity, etc. A key part of studying security is putting skills to the test in practice. Hacking challenges known as Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions are a great way to do this. In this class the progress of students are evaluated by lab assignment and in-class Capture-The-Flag (CTF) competitions.

Downloads: Course Syllabus

Tentative Schedule

Date Topic Dues
Week-1 Class-1 9/5 Overview and Background Knowledge L1 Class Overview L2 Background Knowledge Hw Video  
Week-2 Class-1 9/10 Background Knowledge Video
Week-2 Class-2 9/12 Buffer Overflow (Background and Local variables) L3 Buffer Overflow (Local Variables) Video
Week-3 Class-1 9/17 Buffer Overflow (Local variables) Hw Video Hw-1
Week-3 Class-2 9/19 Buffer Overflow (Return address) L4 Buffer Overflow (Return address) Video
Week-4 Class-1 9/24 Buffer Overflow (Return to Shellcode) L5 Buffer Overflow (Return to Shellcode) Video Hw Hw-2
Week-4 Class-2 9/26 Buffer Overflow (Frame Pointer Attack) L6 Buffer Overflow (Frame Pointer Attack) Video
Week-5 Class-1 10/1 Buffer Overflow (DEP, Shadow Stack) L7 Buffer Overflow (DEP, Shadow Stack, Stack Canary) Video Hw Hw-3
Week-5 Class-2 10/3 Buffer Overflow (Stack Canary) Video
Week-6 Class-1 10/8 ASLR and Seccomp L8 ASLR and Seccomp Video Hw Hw-4
Week-6 Class-2 10/10 Shellcoding L9 Shellcoding Video The instructor will be out of town for a conference. The class will be delivered online at the office hour Zoom link at 10/11 4:35PM
Week-7 Class-1 10/15 *** Midterm CTF Part-1*** Hw-5
Week-7 Class-2 10/17 *** Midterm CTF Part-2***
Week-8 Class-1 10/22 Hw-6
Week-8 Class-2 10/24
Week-9 Class-1 10/29 Hw-7, Hw-8
Week-9 Class-2 10/31
Week-10 Class-1 11/5 Hw-9
Week-10 Class-2 11/7
Week-11 Class-1 11/12 Format string vulnerability Hw-10. The instructor will be out of town for a conference. The class will be delivered online.
Week-11 Class-2 11/14 Format string vulnerability
Week-12 Class-1 11/19 Format string vulnerability Hw-11
Week-12 Class-2 11/21 Format string vulnerability
Week-13 Class-1 11/26 Return-oriented programming and Heap exploitation Hw-12. The class will be delivered online as this is the day before Thanksgiving.
Week-13 Class-2 11/28 === Fall Break (No class) ===
Week-14 Class-1 12/3 ***FinalCTF Part-1*** Hw-13, Hw-14
Week-14 Class-2 12/5 ***FinalCTF Part-2***

Resources

GDB Cheat Sheet Tmux Cheet Sheet x64 Cheat Sheet x32 Cheat Sheet x32 Cheat Sheet ARM Cheat Sheet ARM Cheat Sheet 32-bit