Exploitation Fundamentals

About this track

Stack overflows, heap exploits, ROP chains, integer vulnerabilities, and exploit mitigations.

The Exploitation Fundamentals track collects 5 modules and 20 lessons into a single ordered path. Each module ends with a checkpoint quiz; passing the checkpoint unlocks the next module so you can track your progress without guessing whether the material has stuck.

You start with "Stack-Based Buffer Overflows" and finish on "Exploit Mitigations". The whole track sits inside the Exploitation area of the curriculum, so the writing assumes the prerequisites listed above and skips ground that an earlier track has already covered.

What this track covers

• Stack-Based Buffer Overflows — See what happens when data exceeds its boundaries. Write past a buffer on the stack and watch the return address get overwritten - the foundation of the most common exploit class in computing history.
• Heap Vulnerabilities & Use-After-Free — Explore what happens when programs mismanage dynamic memory. See dangling pointers in action and understand how attackers exploit freed memory to hijack program behaviour.
• Return-Oriented Programming — When you cannot inject new code, reuse what is already there. Learn how attackers chain small instruction sequences ending in RET to build arbitrary programs from existing code.
• Integer Overflows & Type Confusion — Explore vulnerabilities that arise from how numbers and types are represented in memory. See how an innocent arithmetic operation can wrap around and how misinterpreting data types creates exploitable conditions.
• Exploit Mitigations — Defenders fight back. Learn how stack canaries, ASLR, DEP, and Control Flow Integrity make exploitation harder - and understand why no single defence is enough.