# shellphish/how2heap

A repository for learning various heap exploitation techniques.

Repository: https://github.com/shellphish/how2heap
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/how2heap
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-05-15T06:59:29+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 69/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 82, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3879, "days_push": 110, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 8796, forks 1278 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:25.789796+00:00)

## What it is
An educational repository demonstrating a wide range of glibc heap exploitation techniques with annotated C examples. Each technique is versioned against specific glibc releases and can be debugged in the browser.

## Use cases
- learn heap exploitation techniques
- study glibc malloc internals for CTF pwn challenges
- find heap exploitation examples for a specific glibc version
- practice binary exploitation and memory corruption
- prepare for pwn challenges in capture the flag competitions

## When to choose
- you are learning or teaching heap exploitation on Linux/glibc
- you need reference implementations of techniques like fastbin dup, unsafe unlink, or tcache attacks
- you want version-specific, verified exploit technique examples

## When to avoid
- you need a ready-to-use exploitation tool or framework rather than educational examples
- you target non-glibc allocators or non-Linux platforms
- you want general memory safety testing rather than exploitation learning

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: security, developer-tools
- domain: security, education, operating-systems
- platform: cpp, c
- tags: heap-exploitation, ctf, binary-exploitation, glibc-malloc, pwn, memory-corruption, tutorials, linux

## Member repositories
- shellphish/how2heap (main) score 69

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:25.789796+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:25:12.154134+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/shellphish/how2heap (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:25.789796+00:00, sha 79c7a65000b5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.