What is heap spraying and how is it used in exploit development?

Question

Cybersecurity Fundamentals — Hard

What is heap spraying and how is it used in exploit development?

Accepted Answer

Heap spraying involves filling a large portion of the heap with shellcode or NOP sleds to increase the chances of executing malicious code. This technique aims to exploit vulnerabilities by increasing the probability of a controlled jump instruction landing in the attacker's payload.