Buffer overflow attacks are one of the last and most common causes of code based vulnerabilities. Applications programmed are much more susceptible to controversial programming errors than software that uses other development languages. In order to solve these errors and thus buffer overflow attacks by criminal hackers, the developer community has developed a variety of secure development methods, which also belong to the large software players on the market as part of secure development life cycles.
This is surprising in view of the long history of this attack technique and the corresponding efforts to finally get it done. However, MITER has updated the vulnerability ranking for the first time and put it on a new basis: The evaluation formula for the security holes now combines the frequency of security gaps in the national vulnerabilities database. The ranking therefore reflects the overall risk of certain vulnerabilities – based on their frequency and threat level. Another reason for the resumption of buffer overflow attacks could be the widespread use of IoT devices. In this regard, bad code quality and massive security failures have been criticized in recent years. The firmware of these embedded systems were accordingly frequently hit by buffer overflow attacks. However, hardly anything has changed – apart from the fact that more and more such devices are being used on the internet, business networks and private households.
Buffer Overflow Attacks To Overwrite Critical Settings
In certain cases, criminal hackers can also use buffer overflow attacks to overwrite critical settings within the application memory. This can result in an extension of rights at the application or even system level. Incorrect handling of the buffer limits can also enable attackers to read data outside the buffer instead of overwriting it. This practice is known as out of bounds. This method is also used by criminal hackers to spy on information about other possible attacks. Out of bounds are different from buffer overflow attacks, but they are made possible by the same programming errors.
