🔐 Attack Lab – Buffer Overflow & ROP Exploits

This repository contains completed work from the Attack Lab assigned in COSC 30203 – Computer Systems Fundamentals at Texas Christian University.

The lab explores stack-based buffer overflows and Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) through two custom binaries (ctarget and rtarget), each progressively more hardened.

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📚 Lab Overview

Phase	Binary	Exploit Type	Goal	Points
1	ctarget	Code Inject	Call touch1()	10
2	ctarget	Code Inject	Call touch2(cookie)	25
3	ctarget	Code Inject	Call touch3(cookie)	25
4	rtarget	ROP	Call touch2(cookie)	35
5	rtarget	ROP	Call touch3(cookie)	5

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🧠 Key Concepts

• Stack frames and memory layout on x86-64
• Code injection techniques using shellcode or bytecode
• ROP chains to bypass stack protections
• Use of tools: gdb, objdump, xxd, gcc, make
• Buffer overflow & stack smashing
• Code injection using shellcode and control flow redirection
• Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) with gadget chaining
• Stack frames, register usage, memory inspection

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🧪 Exploit Input Files

Each phase was solved using an input file composed of carefully crafted hexadecimal byte sequences. These input files are stored in the exploit-scripts folder.

To test locally (example for phase 1):

./ctarget -q < exploit-scripts/phase1.txt

💡 Setup Instructions
Tools Required:

    Linux environment (run lab on babbage.cs.tcu.edu)

    gdb, objdump, gcc

    hexdump, xxd, vim/nano

Run targets:

./ctarget -t 999 1
./rtarget -t 999 2

(Use the -t 999 option to set a generous timeout while testing manually.)
🛡️ Notes on Security & Ethics

This lab was completed in a controlled environment for academic purposes. Exploit development should never be used on live systems or networks without proper authorization.

📜 License

MIT License (for educational reuse)