GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies Practice Test

What is the purpose of Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR)?

1. To encrypt the memory of a program

2. To randomize the memory address that a program gets loaded into each run

3. To optimize the performance of applications

4. To ensure that system addresses are fixed

The correct answer is: To randomize the memory address that a program gets loaded into each run

Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) serves a critical role in enhancing the security of systems by making it much more difficult for attackers to predict the memory addresses that certain functions or buffers will occupy during program execution. By randomizing the memory addresses at which a program is loaded each time it runs, ASLR significantly complicates an attacker's ability to exploit memory corruption vulnerabilities. When a program is executed, the locations in memory where its components, such as libraries, stack, heap, and data segment, reside are randomly assigned. This randomness means that even if an attacker knows a particular vulnerability exists or has successfully executed some code to exploit a vulnerability, they cannot reliably predict where their malicious payload will be placed in memory. Consequently, even attempts to use techniques like buffer overflows become much harder to execute. Other options do not align with the function of ASLR. For example, while encryption (the first choice) is crucial for protecting data, ASLR does not encrypt memory; it merely changes where things are stored. Optimizing performance (the third choice) is not the focus of ASLR, as its primary aim is security rather than performance enhancement. Lastly, ensuring fixed addresses (the fourth choice) directly contradicts what ASLR stands for,