Day Zero Podcast: Future of Exploit Development Follow-up

Introduction

• Shift from regular topical coverage to a follow-up on the future of exploit development.
• Reflection on previous discussions from a few years back, acknowledging changes in perspectives and developments.

Clarification on Terminology

• Exploit Development Scope:
  • Focus mostly on memory corruption bugs and low-level exploitation.
  • Distinction between generically defined exploit development vs. broader interpretations including web exploits (e.g., SQL injection).
• Memory Corruption Bugs:
  • Buffer overflows, out-of-bounds access, use-after-free, double free, type confusion.
  • Not high-level exploits like command injection.

Summary of Previous Views

• Previous consensus: Memory corruption exploits would decline due to:
  • Adoption of secure development practices.
  • Introduction of mitigations like memory tagging.
• Sentiment was somewhat pessimistic about future memory corruption exploits.

Reflections on Memory Tagging (MTE)

• Past statements on MTE perceived as alarming; however, recent insights show:
  • MTE has not been widely adopted; more restrictive than anticipated.
  • Adoption limited by complexity and potential performance impacts on low-power devices.
  • Synchronous vs. asynchronous modes with different implications for security.
• Findings about the efficacy of MTE and challenges hackers face after its introduction.

Changing Dynamics in Exploit Development

• Shift towards Higher Level Application Security Focus:
  • Rise of Data-Oriented Exploitation: Focused on manipulating an application's data rather than hijacking its control flow.
  • Direct impacts: Exploit development requires understanding of application vulnerabilities beyond just memory corruption.
  • Traditional control-flow hijacking techniques are becoming more difficult due to enhanced mitigations.

New Mitigations Introduced by Apple

• CH-Type:
  • Introduces type isolation in the heap, making it harder to exploit type confusions.
• Blast Door:
  • Reduces attack surfaces by disabling JIT and potentially exploitable features in locked-down modes.

Role of Memory Safe Languages

• Adoption of languages like Rust in lower privilege areas:
  • Recognizes the challenges of rewriting legacy code but emphasizes the importance of introducing memory-safe practices.
  • Examples include privatizing components, such as the binder driver in Android.
• Discussion on perceived over-reliance on memory safe languages and the ongoing vulnerabilities:
  • Even memory-safe languages are not free from bugs.
  • Still need to address legacy systems which rely on unsafe practices.

The Evolving Landscape of Exploit Development

• Shift in value around exploit development in the face of enhanced security:
  • Exploitation is becoming more of a team effort requiring diverse skills beyond just binary exploits.
• Call for well-rounded knowledge in security that integrates both low-level and high-level application security.

Conclusion

• Overall outlook: While exploit development is becoming more complex, it remains a critical skill with a necessity to adapt to evolving technologies and mitigations.
• Invitation for feedback on podcast format and content ideas for future discussions.