CheckSec Enabled VS Disabled
Sangharsha2 min read
| 🔐 Protection | Enabled ✅ | Disabled ❌ | Impact for Hackers/RE |
| RELRO | Full RELRO → GOT is read-only after startup. No GOT overwrite. Partial RELRO → GOT is writable until after relocations. | No RELRO → GOT stays writable. You can overwrite GOT entries for function hijacking (like puts → system). | Enabled: GOT overwrite → Blocked. Disabled: GOT overwrite → Open Season. |
| Stack Canary | Found → Canary placed before RBP. Stack-smash detected before RET. | No Canary → Stack buffer overflows → Wide Open. | Enabled: Overflows crash before control hijack.Disabled: Direct RIP overwrite → Shell or crash. |
| NX (DEP) | NX Enabled → Stack/heap/code pages Non-Executable. No shellcode injection. | NX Disabled → Stack/heap can contain executable code. | Enabled: Use ROP, ret2libc. No shellcode on stack.Disabled: Drop shellcode anywhere (stack/heap) → Profit. |
| PIE (ASLR for .text) | PIE Enabled → Binary loads at random base each run. .text/.data randomized. | PIE Disabled → Binary loads at fixed address every time. | Enabled: Must leak/predict PIE base for ROP, patching, dynamic reversing.Disabled: Hardcoded addresses = Easy game. |
| SHSTK (Shadow Stack) | Enabled → Hardware enforces a protected stack of return addresses. Stops RET overwrite. | Disabled → No protection on return addresses. | Enabled: Return Address → Guarded. Can't smash RET.Disabled: Classic ROP → Open. |
| IBT (Indirect Branch Tracking) | Enabled → Hardware blocks JMP/CALL to invalid locations (mitigates JOP/ROP). | Disabled → No protection on indirect jumps/calls. | Enabled: Must use valid indirect call targets.Disabled: Unrestricted JOP/ROP gadgets. |
| Stripped | Yes → No function names, no symbols. All functions = sub_xxxxx | No → Symbols like main, memcmp, etc. present. | Stripped: Reverse blind, heavy guessing.Not Stripped: Easy AF to navigate and understand. |
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Written by
Sangharsha
Sangharsha
Aspiring developer and security enthusiast.