Reverse Engineering and Binary Exploitation (REE)

Unlocking the secrets of programs: You analyze binary programs without access to their source code, determine how they work, selectively modify their behavior, and exploit vulnerabilities.

Contents

• goals of reverse engineering
• static analysis
• dynamic analysis
• decompilation and modification of binary Java programs
• basics in x86_64 assembler language
• usage of typical reverse engineering tools (radare2, Ghidra ...)
• disassembly and decompilation of native programs
• analysis of unknown executables and malware
• patching of native code
• vulnerabilities (buffer overflow, use after free etc.)
• explotation techniques (rop, formatstrings etc.)
• how to solve crackmes and capture the flags (CTF)
• strategies for anti reversing and counter measures

Competencies

Students are able to

• use state-of-the-art reverse engineering tools
• analyze given binary files and to assess their functionality
• batch binary files in order to change their behavior
• solve crackmes and capture the flags (CTF)

Literature

• M. Sikorski, Practical malware analysis. San Francisco: No Starch Press, 2012.
• D. Andriesse, Practical binary analysis. San Francisco: No Starch Press, Inc, 2019.
• C. Eagle und K. Nance, The Ghidra book. San Francisco, CA: No Starch Press, 2020.
• D. Yurichev, Reverse Engineering for Beginners. (https://beginners.re/main.html), 2019.

Lecturer

• Prof. Thomas Smits

Recommended Previous Knowledge 

• Programming 1 (PR1)
• Programming 2 (PR2)
• Basic knowledge in C programming

Module Details

Semester	6/7
Lecture Language	German
Frequency	Not regularly
Credit Points (ECTS)	5
Course Coordinator	Prof. Thomas Smits
Duration	1 Semester
Course Achievement	None
Prerequisite for exam	None
Exam	Continuous Assessment (CA)

Weekly Hours (SWS) 

Lecture	1 SWS
Exercises	3 SWS
Sum	4 SWS

Work Load 

Lecture	30 h
Self Study	90 h
Assignments	30 h
Sum	150 h