Heap spraying is a hacking technique that exploits software vulnerabilities by taking control of a program’s memory. The attacker “sprays” the memory heap with code, overflows it, and runs their own code on the system. This is commonly used to hack web browsers like Internet Explorer®.
Heap spraying is a hacking technique used to exploit vulnerabilities in computer software. Acts to gain control over a program by using a portion of its memory. Once a portion of the memory is controlled by the hacking code, the hacker can take over the execution of the code by implementing a buffer overflow in the heap area of the memory. The most common application for heap spraying is the hacking of web browsers such as Internet Explorer®.
A “heap” is a dynamic block of memory that the computer allocates to a particular program, so called because the computer dedicates a virtual pile of memory to the program. This can be thought of as storage space in a closet or desk. This pile of memory belongs to the program until software or operating system harvesting code releases it. The collection code is simply a failsafe that reclaims memory if the program crashes or the software itself fails to release memory after use.
In heap spraying, an attacker attempts to “spray” the memory heap with a specific portion of code. The goal is to place the code in a specific location within the program’s memory heap, such as wedging a crowbar into the edge of a doorframe to provide leverage to force the door open. After information is wedged into the memory heap through heat spraying, the hacker can then overflow the heap or the entire memory buffer, generating errors within the system. Once errors occur, the hacker can exploit them to run his own code on the system.
Heap spraying works by dynamically allocating memory in the system. The computer program essentially “owns” the entire chunk of memory for the time being, so the hacker already knows the relative location within the memory that the computer has assigned to the program. Thus, the hacker needs little specificity to get his code into the cracks; he can blindly spray code, knowing that the block of memory will always be there as long as the program keeps running. This could be compared to trying to pick a lock blindfolded; the task becomes nearly impossible if the lock moves, but as long as it stays in a fixed position, as does the memory pile in the system, the job becomes possible.
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