Heap Explorer Project Description

What is the project about?

Heap Explorer is a debugging tool for inspecting and manipulating the heap memory of a running process. It's an LD_PRELOADable library, meaning it can be injected into a process without modifying the target program.

What problem does it solve?

It helps developers understand and debug heap-related issues, such as memory leaks, double frees, use-after-frees, and heap corruption, by providing a way to interact with the heap at runtime. It allows for a hands-on approach to heap analysis.

What are the features of the project?

• Interactive REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) for heap exploration.
• Allocate new memory chunks.
• Free existing memory chunks.
• Print the contents of various freelists (tcache, fastbins, bins).
• Switch between different arenas and threads.
• Installs as a SIGINT handler, allowing it to be triggered with Ctrl+C.
• Displays chunk information, including size and location in freelists.

What are the technologies used in the project?

• C (programming language)
• LD_PRELOAD (dynamic linker feature for library interposition)
• glibc (GNU C Library) - specifically, its heap management functions.
• Signals (SIGINT)

What are the benefits of the project?

• Interactive Debugging: Allows for real-time heap inspection and manipulation.
• Non-Intrusive: LD_PRELOAD means no need to recompile or modify the target application.
• Easy to Use: Simple REPL interface with clear commands.
• Targeted: Focuses specifically on heap analysis.

What are the use cases of the project?

• Debugging memory errors: Identifying the root cause of crashes or unexpected behavior related to heap memory.
• Understanding heap behavior: Learning how the glibc heap allocator works.
• Exploit development: Analyzing heap vulnerabilities and crafting exploits.
• Reverse engineering: Examining how a program manages its memory.
• Educational tool: A practical way to learn about heap management.