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Application & OT Security · Advanced

Out-of-Bounds Read

Reading memory outside the bounds of an allocated buffer, which can leak sensitive data or crash a program.

Definition

Heartbleed was an out-of-bounds read in OpenSSL that leaked server memory including private keys. Mitigations include validating lengths against actual buffer sizes, bounds-checked access and memory-safe languages. Tracked as CWE-125.

Example

A protocol handler trusts a length field and returns 64 KB of adjacent memory to the client.

Exam tip

Reads leak data (confidentiality); writes corrupt it (integrity/execution).

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