The Rise and Fall of Binary Exploitation - A Technical Analysis of Memory Safety and Exploit Mitigations

Explore a comprehensive DEF CON conference talk examining the evolution and current state of binary exploitation in cybersecurity. Delve into the 20+ year history of binary exploitation as a premier challenge in compromising large applications and operating systems. Learn about the ongoing transition towards memory-safe languages like Rust, while understanding why traditional languages like C++ remain prevalent. Examine key exploit mitigations and memory protections, including Data Execution Prevention (DEP), Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET), and Virtualization Based Security (VBS). Understand why certain Windows OS security features remain disabled by default due to compatibility concerns with production applications. Through technical analysis, gain insights into the effectiveness and enforcement mechanisms of various security mitigations in modern computing environments.