Exploit Development

Exploit Development Mastery Roadmap

This detailed roadmap will take you from beginner to expert in Exploit Development, covering binary exploitation, buffer overflows, return-oriented programming (ROP), heap exploitation, shellcoding, and advanced techniques.

---

Phase 1: Fundamentals of Exploit Development

✅ Understanding Vulnerabilities

• What is an Exploit? (Zero-Day, 1-Day, N-Day)

• Common Vulnerability Types (Buffer Overflow, Use-After-Free, Integer Overflow, Format String)

• Software Security Models (ASLR, DEP, Stack Canaries, NX)

✅ Setting Up an Exploit Development Lab

• Virtual Machines (Kali Linux, Ubuntu, Windows)

• Debuggers & Disassemblers (GDB, WinDbg, IDA Pro, Ghidra, Radare2)

• Exploit Development Tools (Pwntools, ROPgadget, Immunity Debugger)

📌 Mini Projects:

• Set Up an Exploitation Lab with All Necessary Tools

• Analyze a Simple Buffer Overflow Crash

---

Phase 2: Stack-Based Buffer Overflow Exploitation

✅ Understanding Buffer Overflows

• Stack Memory & Function Calls

• How Buffer Overflows Work (EIP Control, Overwriting Return Addresses)

• Identifying Vulnerable Code

✅ Exploiting Stack Overflows

• Finding the Offset (Pattern Matching, cyclic in Pwntools)

• Overwriting EIP & Redirecting Execution

• Bypassing Stack Canaries & ASLR

📌 Mini Projects:

• Write a Simple Stack Overflow Exploit (Linux & Windows)

• Bypass Stack Canaries & Gain Code Execution

---

Phase 3: Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) & Shellcoding

✅ Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) Basics

• What is ROP? Bypassing DEP & NX

• Finding ROP Gadgets (ROPgadget, ROPper)

• Crafting a ROP Chain (Executing System Calls)

✅ Writing Custom Shellcode

• Introduction to Shellcoding

• Generating Shellcode with msfvenom

• Writing & Encoding Custom Shellcode (NOP Sled, XOR Encoding)

📌 Mini Projects:

• Create a ROP Exploit to Bypass NX & Execute Shellcode

• Write a Custom Shellcode & Inject it into an Exploit

---

Phase 4: Heap Exploitation & Advanced Techniques

✅ Heap Exploitation Basics

• How Heap Allocators Work (glibc malloc, Windows Heap)

• Heap Overflow & Use-After-Free (UAF) Vulnerabilities

• Exploiting Heap Metadata Corruption

✅ Advanced Exploit Development Techniques

• Bypassing ASLR, DEP, and CFG

• Format String Exploitation & Arbitrary Read/Write

• Race Condition Exploits & Symbolic Execution

📌 Mini Projects:

• Exploit a Use-After-Free (UAF) Bug in a C Program

• Develop an Exploit for a Real-World Heap Overflow

---

Phase 5: Exploiting Modern Systems & Real-World Vulnerabilities

✅ Kernel Exploitation

• Kernel Vulnerability Types (Stack Overflow, NULL Pointer Dereference)

• Exploiting Kernel Bugs for Privilege Escalation

• Writing Linux & Windows Kernel Exploits

✅ Web & Browser Exploitation

• Exploiting Memory Corruption in Browsers

• JavaScript JIT Exploitation & Use-After-Free in WebKit

• Bypassing Modern Security Mitigations

📌 Mini Projects:

• Write a Kernel Exploit for Privilege Escalation

• Analyze & Replicate a Public Browser Exploit

---

Phase 6: Real-World Exploit Development & CTF Challenges

✅ Fuzzing & Finding New Vulnerabilities

• Automated Vulnerability Discovery (AFL, libFuzzer, WinAFL)

• Writing Custom Fuzzers & Analyzing Crash Dumps

✅ CTF & Bug Bounty Exploit Challenges

• Participating in Exploit Development CTFs (pwn.college, HackTheBox, pwnable.tw)

• Analyzing CVEs & Writing Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Exploits

📌 Mini Projects:

• Find & Exploit a Bug Using Fuzzing

• Write a Full PoC Exploit for a Public CVE

---

Final Step: Real-World Practice & Skill Testing

🔥 Platforms to Test & Improve Skills:

• HackTheBox (Exploit Labs & CTFs)

• Exploit-DB (Real-World Exploits & PoCs)

• pwn.college (Binary Exploitation Training)

• CTFTime (Top CTF Competitions for Exploit Dev)

• Corelan (Windows Exploitation Guides)

🚀 By mastering this roadmap, you’ll be able to: ✅ Develop Exploits for Real-World Vulnerabilities ✅ Bypass Modern Security Mechanisms & Gain Code Execution ✅ Find & Report Critical Vulnerabilities in Software & Operating Systems

🔥 Start mastering Exploit Development now!