exploit_me

Very vulnerable ARM/ARM64[AARCH64] application (CTF style exploitation tutorial, portable to other platforms)

(c) B.Kerler 2018-2026

Why:

Some of my friends asked me if I could do some examples of exploitable stuff I've seen in real-world the past years for ARM/ARM64[AARCH64]/others.

So, for training purposes, I thought: Why not :)

Current vulnerabilities:

Level 1: Integer overflow
Level 2: Stack overflow
Level 3: Array overflow
Level 4: Off by one
Level 5: Stack cookie
Level 6: Format string
Level 7: Heap overflow
Level 8: Structure redirection / Type confusion
Level 9: Zero pointers
Level 10: Command injection
Level 11: Path Traversal
Level 12: Return oriented programming (ROP)
Level 13: Use-after-free
Level 14: Jump oriented programming (JOP)
Level 15: Stable format-string write
Level 16: Double free
Level 17: Signedness bug
Level 18: Integer multiplication overflow
Level 19: Null pointer bug
Level 20: Uninitialized memory read
Level 21: Out-of-bounds read
Level 22: TOCTOU path race
Level 23: Insecure temporary file / symlink attack
Level 24: Environment variable injection
Level 25: Unsafe parser / deserialization
Level 26: Filtered command injection / quoting bypass
Level 27: Heap metadata corruption
Level 28: ROP-style function-pointer control flow
Level 29: Dangling stack pointer

Install on Debian/Ubuntu System:

Download the repo

git clone https://github.com/bkerler/exploit_me

Install needed tools on host (Ubuntu)

~$ cd exploit_me
~/exploit_me $ ./script/setup.sh

Usage hints:

• See hints.txt for a start.

• For trying if it works : *** 32-Bit:

  $ ./bin/exploit
  

  *** 64-Bit:

  $ ./bin/exploit64
  

• Example debugging session:

  $ sudo ./scripts/disableaslr.sh
  

  (Disable aslr, don't run if you want more fun) (Path dir1/dir2 needed in current exploit directory for Path Traversal vulnerability)

  In first terminal:

  *** 32-Bit:

  $ ./bin/arm exploit [levelpassword] [options] &
  $ gdb-multiarch ./exploit
  pwndbg> set architecture arm
  

  instead you can also add architecture in .gdbinit as "set architecture arm"
  

  *** 64-Bit:

  $ ./arm64 exploit64 [levelpassword] [options] &
  $ gdb-multiarch ./exploit64
  pwndbg> set architecture aarch64
  

  instead you can also add architecture in .gdbinit as "set architecture aarch64"

  *** Example .gdbinit

  set endian little
  #set architecture arm
  #set architecture aarch64
  target remote :1234
  

• GDB Basics:

  Use 
  "si" to step into functions or 
  "so" to step over functions, 
  "info functions" to print all functions,
  "p [function]" to print function address and information, if symbols exist
  "b [function]" (Example: "b main" to set a breakpoint and "b *0x1234" to set a breakpoint at addr 0x1234, 
  "c" to continue program, 
  "x/[dwords]x" to print offsets, for example "x/4x 0x1234" and 
  "x/[dwords]x $reg" to print register contents, for example "x/4x $sp". 
  Using pwndbg, you can use 
  "rop" to list rop gadgets, for example "rop --grep 'pop {r3'" to list gadgets which pop values from stack to r3. 
  See https://github.com/pwndbg/pwndbg/blob/dev/FEATURES.md for more details !
  

• After you've exploited correctly, you will see the password for the next level. So if level2 password would be "Level2": *** 32-Bit:

  $ ./bin/exploit Level2
  

  *** 64-Bit:

  $ ./bin/exploit64 Level2
  

• For cheaters or people trying to understand with less instruction knowledge :

  See solutions/solutions.txt and source code in src/exploit.cpp
  

• There are more solutions possible, even with rop chains, not just my example solutions given

• There are some hints printed to console (information leak), which you normally wouldn't have, but these make things easier for beginners, that's why I added it

ToDo:

• Will add other vulnerabilities as I see them or have spare time (like multi-thread vulnerability). But if you want to add some, I'd be happy to provide !

Some referrals to ARM reversing beginners :

• Learn some ARM Assembly Basics and Shellcode stuff over here : https://azeria-labs.com/
• Get Book "Beginner's Guide to Exploitation on ARM" by Billy Ellis and his YouTube tutorial videos
• Read blog "ARM exploitation for IoT" Part 1 - 3 https://quequero.org/category/security/
• Read book "A Bug Hunter's Diary" By Tobias Klein
• Read ARMv8 (AARCH64) Opcode Manual : https://www.element14.com/community/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/41836-102-1-229511/ARM.Reference_Manual.pdf

License:

MIT License (Share, modify and use as you like, but refer to the original author !)