Chapter 49
Chapter 49
When I returned.
The faces of the Montage Quartet showed clear signs of having stayed up all night.
They looked like they had skipped meals, their complexions were all pale.
"I hope this is enough."
The moment I saw Ajoomma's determined eyes as she handed over the report, I was convinced.
So, these guys did find a workaround.
「 Overview:
This report details a practical penetration strategy to bypass the advanced security network system built by 'AlphaMind and AlphaHelp', focusing on exploiting the OverlayFS Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability of the Linux operating system. 」
I opened the first page and sat down.
OverlayFS Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability?
My mind contains all the vulnerabilities ever discovered in all OSs, and this is a new one.
It wasn't like they were using one of the vulnerabilities they had been stockpiling.
I had customized Linux with all those vulnerabilities in mind. But if a new vulnerability pops up like this, it becomes useless.
'Is it real?'
Crackle! Crackle—
The moment I concentrated.
Sparks started to fly from all over my brain.
At first, it was just darkness.
Soon, fragments fell from the flashes of light that popped up here and there, and they were embedded in the darkness.
The vast code of 30 million lines unfolded endlessly.
It was the entire structure of the Linux kernel I had customized.
I refocused my mind on a specific block.
The reported vulnerability is contained in the [overlayfs.c] file. The code expanded and unfolded before my eyes, and each line became clearer.
Swaack!-
[ if (uid_eq(current_fsuid(), file1->f_inode->i_uid)) { … } ]
Right, it starts here.
This function returns the user ID of the process, but in the upper layer of OverlayFS, there was a possibility that the user's ID could be replaced with root.
This process will not be properly verified when the data is copied.
Then the attacker takes control of the system and transforms into an administrator.
'The UID is converted to root like this?'
"Ha!"
I was so dumbfounded that I let out a hollow laugh.
It's absurd that this vulnerability hasn't been discovered until now, but it's even more absurd that these guys found it in the past day with their reversing skills.
"OverlayFS vulnerability. You found this in one day?"
When I asked to confirm, Ajoomma's eyes suddenly trembled noticeably.
"Do… do you know what it is?"
"Let's talk after I've seen everything."
Reversing.
A technique called reverse engineering.
This technique is like disassembling a complex mechanical device to find out the role and operating principle of each part.
In the case of software and systems, it is the work of tracing back the code and design structure that are not exposed to the outside to reveal the hidden truth.
It is an essential skill for security experts.
Like now, discovering system vulnerabilities in advance through reversing.
In the process of analyzing the hacker's attack method and preparing countermeasures to prevent it, the hacker's path must be traced and the blueprint must be drawn in reverse.
That's how the world is.
Every area has both light and shadow.
If nuclear power technology is used for good, it turns power plants, and if it is used for harm, it detonates nuclear bombs. Similarly, reversing technology is security if used well, and hacking if used badly.
And the most skilled person in this technology is definitely Ajoomma.
Mika.
Perhaps Ajoomma's skills have improved much more than during her time at Microsoft.
She was genuinely enjoying the world while hanging out with young computer geniuses.
Isn't it when you enjoy it so sincerely that you grow the most without realizing it?
I could picture her digging into the Linux kernel code with her colleagues over the past day.
They would have repeated endless debugging simulations, constantly tracking the flow of code and system call relationships, and eventually found a new vulnerability as if to show off.
'Okay.'
Her reversing skills alone are enough to pass.
In fact, there was no need to look back at that point.
* * *
Hyun-woo was immersed in the report, turning the pages slowly.
He even seemed to have forgotten to blink.
Then, in an instant, Hyun-woo's eyes trembled subtly. His eyes widened as if he had woken up from a dream, and he blinked for the first time.
Then a thin smile spread across Hyun-woo's lips.
'Did he see it now?'
Phantom nudged Shiva with his elbow. Shiva also nodded with his eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.
'…Is he enjoying it?'
As if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, Shiva looked back at Hyun-woo with his mouth half open.
Originally, Shiva had expected Hyun-woo to just pretend to check the report and leave quickly. After all, there would be a separate supervisor, and Hyun-woo thought he was just a messenger.
But it wasn't.
Anyone could see that Hyun-woo's reading of the report was not just a review.
He was deeply immersed in it, as if he were enjoying an interesting novel.
'He understands everything?'
Shiva recalled the process of completing the report.
It was a masterpiece created by mobilizing all kinds of techniques and reasoning, from data analysis and code debugging to penetration path design.
A work created with everyone's desperate efforts. That's how the report was created.
So, as for the technical part, even security experts would have to look at it countless times to barely understand it, as it was so tricky and sophisticated.
Again.
Hyun-woo's eyes, which had not been blinking all along, widened again as if he were glaring.
As his eyelids closed, a small smile appeared on his lips.
Shiva waited for Hyun-woo to finish reading the report and put it down. But as soon as Hyun-woo put down the report, he turned on the computer, so he couldn't ask. Whether he really understood it.
That's when it started.
Hyun-woo's hands began to race across the keyboard.
Tap. Taptap. Taptaptap—
At first, I thought he was just typing a few lines. But the typing sound became faster and faster and didn't stop. It was incredibly fast typing.
All four of the Montage Quartet prided themselves on not being inferior to anyone in terms of typing speed, but Hyun-woo's typing speed was beyond their level.
It's a completely different level, like a professional speed typing competition player.
What's even more surprising is that he doesn't make a single typo even while typing so quickly.
After more than ten minutes.
Finally, Hyun-woo took his hands off the keyboard and got up from his seat.
And what followed was the low motor sound of the printer.
Wheeing— Wheeing—
'One page… two pages… three pages… how many pages did he type?'
Shiva counted in his head and then stopped. The pages kept pouring out without stopping.
When the printer finally stopped, the stack of printed papers looked like it was well over twenty pages.
Hyun-woo walked up to the printer and took out the stack of papers without a word. The sight of him neatly collecting them on the desk was particularly surreal to Shiva.
If Shiva was right, the dozens of pages of documents that had been written in a frenzy would contain a detailed review of their penetration report.
'No way…….'
Shiva's mind became complicated.
The sound of typing that had been ringing in her ears for more than ten minutes was still lingering.
"Mika, come and get this."
Hyun-woo, who had finished organizing, called Mika.
Shiva had to suppress the urge to run out after Mika right away.
Instead, she watched Mika's reaction as she received the document, and she could be sure just from her frozen back.
There's definitely a review.
A review of more than twenty pages filled with letters.
To write such a review without a single hitch, it was impossible to guess how skilled he would be.
At that time, Phantom passed by Shiva's eyes.
"Phantom?"
Phantom was approaching Mika, or rather, the document in Mika's hand.
Shiva paused for a moment at Phantom's actions.
"Phantom, what are you doing?"
Shiva whispered in a low voice, but Phantom didn't seem to hear.
Shiva tried to stop Phantom, but then stopped.
When she saw Phantom's face, which was blank as if he were possessed by something, she lost all will to do so.
The reaction Phantom showed after that was the same as Mika's.
As soon as he saw the first page, all the expressions disappeared from his face, and he couldn't even think of asking for the next page.
'What the hell is in there…….'
Shiva exchanged glances with Sword and then took a step together. Only then could they see.
It would be shocking even if it contained a review, but it went even further.
What was contained in it was not just a simple review.
A complete counterattack!
It was a counterattack strategy against the penetration attack that the Montage Quartet was so confident in, calling it the best ever, and the first page started with a script code to defend against the Adaptive Traffic Modification Attack.
'How… this… now…….'
Shiva screamed in her blank mind.
'Even aliens can't do this!'
The Adaptive Traffic Modification Attack that they had conceived this time was the best technology that the Montage Quartet was proud of.
It was a masterpiece among masterpieces, so much so that they themselves doubted whether they could create technology of that level again.
But that technology, which the Quartet was so proud of, was not only torn apart and disassembled in front of Hyun-woo.
Rather, the code for the counterattack that reversed it was starting so perfectly.
It was so perfect that it was even beautiful. That's why it's grotesque.
Shiva froze with goosebumps all over her body.
'W-we can't possibly deal with someone like him.'
Hyun-woo Na, who is known as a Wall Street fund manager, was beyond the level of being called a genius programmer or hacker.
His skills were beyond words.
Without a doubt, he was the best programmer and hacker in the world.
No, a monster even more than that.
A computer monster with unimaginable skills.
In front of that monstrous being.
The Montage Quartet was literally overwhelmed.