DEP makes stack shellcode unrunnable, so a Windows ROP chain calls VirtualProtect to mark the shellcode region executable, then jumps to it. Build it with mona, then see ASLR and CFG respond.
AArch64 gadgets end in ret, which branches to x30 — so the chain is threaded through the link register with ldp gadgets. Build a system("/bin/sh") chain, then watch PAC and BTI break it.
A seccomp policy that bans execve takes the shell off the table, so attackers switch goals: open the flag, read it, write it back. Build the ORW chain, and see what a tighter policy stops.
No pop rdx gadget? The C runtime's startup code has a universal sequence that loads several registers and makes a controlled call. Build it with pwntools, and see where it's gone.
When gadgets are scarce, forge a signal frame. A sigreturn syscall restores every register from the stack at once — build one with pwntools to call execve, then see how seccomp and CET respond.
When the overflow gives you only a few bytes past the return address, pivot the stack pointer into a buffer you fully control and run the real chain from there. A pwntools walkthrough.
NX is on and the binary is tiny, but libc is mapped and full of useful code. Leak its base past ASLR, then return straight into system("/bin/sh") — a full two-stage pwntools walkthrough.
With NX on, injected shellcode is dead — so we reuse the program's own code. A full lab walkthrough: find gadgets, hand-build an execve syscall chain with pwntools, then watch CET and CFI break it.