Thanks for the write-up Zoher...

This is Steve Sims, author of the course... Thanks to Google for alerting me about the posting! I'm happy to say that the course has now moved to a five-day version to allow for more time on the material and to include additional modules on fuzzing.

Your statement is correct, "How can you teach Windows Heap Overflows in less than one day?" The fact is simply that each vulnerability is different. You could spend several days alone on heap overflows relative to a specific OS. Unfortunately, to spend that many days on one niche topic does not serve anyone very well. The focus of the course is to go deep inside of various exploitation techniques to get you thinking outside of the box. Consider it as a bridge that the course will help you cross. You must have a passion for exploit development and leverage accordingly.

Stack overflows, both on Windows and Linux, are quite simple. There are a standard set of techniques that you will often find on Milw0rm. <-- (An awesome resource!) SEC709 gets you thinking of ways to handle the unexpected. When performing exploit development on a day-to-day basis, you find yourself with constant obstacles. SEC709 focuses on how to defeat modern OS controls such as stack canaries, Data Execution Prevention (DEP), ASLR, etc...

As for more advanced techniques, you will be forced to utilize your knowledge gained to help you think in more abstract terms. We cover several advanced techniques that should be included as part of your custom pen-testing arsenal. It is up to you to utilize your skills and think creatively. Pounding several days of advanced heap exploitation into someone's head will only leave that person mentally exhausted by day two and with a small skill set upon completion. Heap exploitation is a necessary rite of passage and we cover techniques accordingly.

The goal of the course is to get you beyond using pre-compiled pen-testing tools such as Metasploit, Core, Saint, Immunity, and to get you writing your own exploits. Of course these tools are awesome, but if you have custom applications, 3rd party developed tools, or are considering using commercial products in your environment, you need to be prepared to properly assess them. Unless you're using a public app and someone else discovered every vulnerability in the application, how can you comfortably go to production? I just couldn't sleep at night! lol

Please feel free to contact me at stephen@deadlisting.com if you have any questions. I'm happy to provide you with more details on the course format, topics covered, preparation materials, or any other questions you may have.

Thanks again to Don for providing such a great resource! Hope to see you all soon. I'll be around DEFCON. Buying me a beer may get you a course discount!

Regards....

Steve

Hey...

Congratulations on getting the GCIH and GPEN!

For SEC709, you do not need to know C and C++ very well, but you need to understand programming concepts and have some experience with at least scripting or else the content may seem rather abstract. It sounds like you have the necessary background. I can tell you it will be much more challenging than most other courses.

We only write one exploit in C and that's to beat ASLR on Linux Kernel 2.6.28. We use Python to do most of the exploitation, which is a very easy programming language and quite intuitive in terms of exploitation. We spend most of our time hacking C programs, which of course we are doing by going through debuggers and assembly... This you learn in class.

Please contact me at stephen@deadlisting.com if you have any further questions. Starting at SANSFIRE in June, the first day of the 5-day class will be on "Fuzzing for Bug Discovery." In Orlando and New Orleans it is a 4-day course...

Thanks...

Steve

Hello...

This is Steve Sims sending out an update on my SANS course SEC709 - Developing Exploits for Penetration Testers & Security Researchers. The course has been expanded to a four day course, with a five day version running occasionally as well. Interestingly, the course is getting mostly international and government attention...

The four day version includes:

- Writing standard Stack-based buffer overflows.
- Writing return-to-libc style stack-based buffer overflows.
- Defeating Stack Canaries and Cookies.
- Defeating Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)
- Defeating software and hardware Data Execution Prevention (DEP).
- Defeating Safe-Structured Exception Handling (SafeSEH).
- Exploiting format string vulnerabilities.
- Heap overflows abusing dlmalloc and ptmalloc.
- FreeList exploitation.
- GOT, DTORS, and function pointer overwrites.
- Heap spraying on XP SP2/3 & Vista.
- Process Environment Block (PEB) Exploitation.
- Fuzzing for bug discovery.
- Understanding x86 assembly.
- Understanding symbol resolution in depth.
- Capture the Flag!

This is a very technical, advanced course and is not for everyone. It is very up to date unlike many other courses I've come across through various vendors. I would love to have you if you're up to the challenge! You do not need to be a programmer, but do need to understand programming concepts and be a quick learner. We use Python and C to exploit vulnerable programs written in C and C++.

Why should you take the course? The companies we are protecting expect us to have a strong skill set when it comes to penetration testing. Running automated checks for known vulnerabilities is fine, but only checks for, well, known vulnerabilities. When performing black box or crystal box penetration testing, or when testing home-grown and commercial applications, you must be able to step outside of the box and exhaust all attack vectors. Also, during a risk assessment, you may get a risk item after running a code scanning tool such as Fortify. Does this mean the risk item is an absolute flaw in the application that allows an attacker to take control? Unless you can take the next step and write custom exploitation PoC code, you don't know... I've seen countless companies spend millions on remediating code for a supposed vulnerability that cannot be exploited.

Other justification for taking the course includes:

- Understanding the attack methods hackers use to write 0-day exploits.
- Understanding what security controls have been applied to various Windows and Linux OS' and how to defeat them!
- The ability to write custom exploits.
- Knowledge gained and job security.
- Because you're a security rockstar...!

There is no ego or assumptions that come with this class. The course is to serve as a bridge from standard penetration testing to advanced penetration testing and exploitation development. Through the methods used in the class, I have discovered 0-day vulnerabilities in RFID software, TFTP software, FTP software, RPC services, Cellular phone software and a plethora of home-grown application flaws.

If you have any questions, you can hit me up at stephen@deadlisting.com. I'm happy to answer questions on the course material, prerequsites, etc...

The course and dates it is running can be found here: http://www.sans.org/training/description.php?mid=1107

Regards...

Steve