Counter-Measures against Stack Buffer Overflows in GNU/Linux Operating Systems

We address the particular cyber attack technique known as stack buffer overflow in GNU/Linux operating systems, which are widely used in HPC environments. The buffer overflow problem has been around for quite some time and continues to be an ever present issue. We develop a mechanism to successfully...

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Published in:Procedia computer science Vol. 83; pp. 1301 - 1306
Main Authors: Leon, Erick, Bruda, Stefan D.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 2016
Subjects:
ISSN:1877-0509, 1877-0509
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Abstract We address the particular cyber attack technique known as stack buffer overflow in GNU/Linux operating systems, which are widely used in HPC environments. The buffer overflow problem has been around for quite some time and continues to be an ever present issue. We develop a mechanism to successfully detect and react whenever a stack buffer overflow occurs. Our solution requires no compile-time support and so can be applied to any program, including legacy or closed source software for which the source code is not available. This makes it especially useful in HPC environments where given their complexity and scope of the computing system, incidents like overflows might be difficult to detect and react to accordingly.
AbstractList We address the particular cyber attack technique known as stack buffer overflow in GNU/Linux operating systems, which are widely used in HPC environments. The buffer overflow problem has been around for quite some time and continues to be an ever present issue. We develop a mechanism to successfully detect and react whenever a stack buffer overflow occurs. Our solution requires no compile-time support and so can be applied to any program, including legacy or closed source software for which the source code is not available. This makes it especially useful in HPC environments where given their complexity and scope of the computing system, incidents like overflows might be difficult to detect and react to accordingly.
Author Leon, Erick
Bruda, Stefan D.
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Keywords ptrace
Buffer overflow
Stack
GNU/Linux
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Snippet We address the particular cyber attack technique known as stack buffer overflow in GNU/Linux operating systems, which are widely used in HPC environments. The...
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SubjectTerms Buffer overflow
GNU/Linux
ptrace
Stack
Title Counter-Measures against Stack Buffer Overflows in GNU/Linux Operating Systems
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