Exploit Development Fundamentals

Overview

Exploit development requires understanding how programs use memory, how the CPU executes instructions, and what security mechanisms protect modern binaries. This section covers the foundational concepts needed before writing exploits.

Topics in This Section

• Memory Layout & Architecture — process memory segments, stack frames, calling conventions
• Memory Protections — ASLR, NX/DEP, stack canaries, PIE, RELRO, FORTIFY

General Approach

1. Understand the target architecture (x86, x86-64, ARM)
2. Map the process memory layout — where code, data, stack, and heap live
3. Identify which protections are enabled on the binary
4. Choose an exploitation technique that bypasses the active protections
5. Build and test the exploit in a controlled environment