Memory and the Stack

When a program runs, the operating system gives it a memory layout with distinct regions: the text (code), data/BSS (globals), the heap (dynamic allocation), and the stack.

Buffer overflows most often abuse the stack, so understanding it is essential.

The stack is a region of memory used for function calls. It stores local variables, function arguments, and return addresses.

It grows downward on x86: pushing data moves the stack pointer toward lower addresses. This direction matters when an overflow happens.