Consequences
An accidental overflow may result in data corruption or unexpected behavior by any process which uses the affected memory area. On operating systems without memory protection, this could be any process on the system.
A deliberate exploit may result in data at a specific location being altered in an arbitrary way, or in arbitrary code being executed.
The Microsoft JPEG GDI+ vulnerability MS04-028 is an example of the danger a heap overflow can represent to a computer user.
iOS jailbreaking often uses Heap overflows to gain arbitrary code, usually for kernel exploits to achieve the ability to replace the kernel with the one jailbreak provides.
Read more about this topic: Heap Overflow
Famous quotes containing the word consequences:
“The consequences of our actions grab us by the scruff of our necks, quite indifferent to our claim that we have “gotten better” in the meantime.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“There is a delicate balance of putting yourself last and not being a doormat and thinking of yourself first and not coming off as selfish, arrogant, or bossy. We spend the majority of our lives attempting to perfect this balance. When we are successful, we have many close, healthy relationships. When we are unsuccessful, we suffer the natural consequences of damaged and sometimes broken relationships. Children are just beginning their journey on this important life lesson.”
—Cindy L. Teachey. “Building Lifelong Relationships—School Age Programs at Work,” Child Care Exchange (January 1994)
“The middle years are ones in which children increasingly face conflicts on their own,... One of the truths to be faced by parents during this period is that they cannot do the work of living and relating for their children. They can be sounding boards and they can probe with the children the consequences of alternative actions.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)