Integer Overflow

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Basic Information

At the heart of an integer overflow is the limitation imposed by the size of data types in computer programming and the interpretation of the data.

For example, an 8-bit unsigned integer can represent values from 0 to 255. If you attempt to store the value 256 in an 8-bit unsigned integer, it wraps around to 0 due to the limitation of its storage capacity. Similarly, for a 16-bit unsigned integer, which can hold values from 0 to 65,535, adding 1 to 65,535 will wrap the value back to 0.

Moreover, an 8-bit signed integer can represent values from -128 to 127. This is because one bit is used to represent the sign (positive or negative), leaving 7 bits to represent the magnitude. The most negative number is represented as -128 (binary 10000000), and the most positive number is 127 (binary 01111111).

Max values

For potential web vulnerabilities it's very interesting to know the maximum supported values:

Rust

fn main() {

    let mut quantity = 2147483647;
    
    let (mul_result, _) = i32::overflowing_mul(32767, quantity);
    let (add_result, _) = i32::overflowing_add(1, quantity);
    
    println!("{}", mul_result);
    println!("{}", add_result);
}

C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <limits.h>

int main() {
    int a = INT_MAX;
    int b = 0;
    int c = 0;
    
    b = a * 100;
    c = a + 1;
    
    printf("%d\n", INT_MAX);
    printf("%d\n", b);
    printf("%d\n", c);
    return 0;
}

Examples

Pure overflow

The printed result will be 0 as we overflowed the char:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    unsigned char max = 255; // 8-bit unsigned integer
    unsigned char result = max + 1;
    printf("Result: %d\n", result); // Expected to overflow
    return 0;
}

Signed to Unsigned Conversion

Consider a situation where a signed integer is read from user input and then used in a context that treats it as an unsigned integer, without proper validation:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int userInput; // Signed integer
    printf("Enter a number: ");
    scanf("%d", &userInput);

    // Treating the signed input as unsigned without validation
    unsigned int processedInput = (unsigned int)userInput;

    // A condition that might not work as intended if userInput is negative
    if (processedInput > 1000) {
        printf("Processed Input is large: %u\n", processedInput);
    } else {
        printf("Processed Input is within range: %u\n", processedInput);
    }

    return 0;
}

In this example, if a user inputs a negative number, it will be interpreted as a large unsigned integer due to the way binary values are interpreted, potentially leading to unexpected behavior.

Other Examples

• https://guyinatuxedo.github.io/35-integer_exploitation/int_overflow_post/index.html

  • Only 1B is used to store the size of the password so it's possible to overflow it and make it think it's length of 4 while it actually is 260 to bypass the length check protection

• https://guyinatuxedo.github.io/35-integer_exploitation/puzzle/index.html

  • Given a couple of numbers find out using z3 a new number that multiplied by the first one will give the second one:

    (((argv[1] * 0x1064deadbeef4601) & 0xffffffffffffffff) == 0xD1038D2E07B42569)

• https://8ksec.io/arm64-reversing-and-exploitation-part-8-exploiting-an-integer-overflow-vulnerability/

  • Only 1B is used to store the size of the password so it's possible to overflow it and make it think it's length of 4 while it actually is 260 to bypass the length check protection and overwrite in the stack the next local variable and bypass both protections

ARM64

This doesn't change in ARM64 as you can see in this blog post.

Learn & practice AWS Hacking:HackTricks Training AWS Red Team Expert (ARTE) Learn & practice GCP Hacking: HackTricks Training GCP Red Team Expert (GRTE)

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• Check the subscription plans!

• Join the 💬 Discord group or the telegram group or follow us on Twitter 🐦 @hacktricks_live.

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