Buffer Overflow Primer Part 1 (Smashing The Stack)

Description: In this video series we will learn the basics of Buffer Overflow attacks and demonstrate how one can exploit Buffer Overflows in programs for fun and profit. The pre-requisite for this video series is that you are familiar with Assembly language. If you are not familiar with Assembly language, no worries, I have created detailed video tutorials for Assembly language here - Assembly Language Primer for Hackers.



In Part 1 of the Buffer Overflow series we will look at why buffer overflow attacks happen. We will discuss how the program stack is laid out when a function call happens, then how a buffer can be overwritten if proper bounds checking does not happen and finally how a hacker could take control of the program by overwriting the return address stored on the stack to an arbitrary value. We will use a sample program - Demo.c to demonstrate how it is possible to change the Return address by overwriting the stack using user supplied input.





