# PIE

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## Basic Information

A binary compiled as PIE, or **Position Independent Executable**, means the **program can load at different memory locations** each time it's executed, preventing hardcoded addresses.

The trick to exploit these binaries lies in exploiting the **relative addresses**—the offsets between parts of the program remain the same even if the absolute locations change. To **bypass PIE, you only need to leak one address**, typically from the **stack** using vulnerabilities like format string attacks. Once you have an address, you can calculate others by their **fixed offsets**.

A helpful hint in exploiting PIE binaries is that their **base address typically ends in 000** due to memory pages being the units of randomization, sized at 0x1000 bytes. This alignment can be a critical **check if an exploit isn't working** as expected, indicating whether the correct base address has been identified.\
Or you can use this for your exploit, if you leak that an address is located at **`0x649e1024`** you know that the **base address is `0x649e1000`** and from the you can just **calculate offsets** of functions and locations.

## Bypasses

In order to bypass PIE it's needed to **leak some address of the loaded** binary, there are some options for this:

* **Disabled ASLR**: If ASLR is disabled a binary compiled with PIE is always **going to be loaded in the same address**, therefore **PIE is going to be useless** as the addresses of the objects are always going to be in the same place.
* Be **given** the leak (common in easy CTF challenges, [**check this example**](https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/types/stack/pie/pie-exploit))
* **Brute-force EBP and EIP values** in the stack until you leak the correct ones:

{% content-ref url="pie/bypassing-canary-and-pie" %}
[bypassing-canary-and-pie](pie/bypassing-canary-and-pie)
{% endcontent-ref %}

* Use an **arbitrary read** vulnerability such as [**format string**](../format-strings) to leak an address of the binary (e.g. from the stack, like in the previous technique) to get the base of the binary and use offsets from there. [**Find an example here**](https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/types/stack/pie/pie-bypass).

## References

* [https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/types/stack/pie](https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/types/stack/pie)

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