Reverse Engineering: Cutter for Beginners from Udemy

What's inside

Learning objectives

Reverse engineering
Assembly language
Decompiling binary to c code
Register and memory analysis
Disassembling binary to assembly code
Reversing jumps
Using nops to disable instructions
Windows api
C/c++ functions
Static analysis
Dynamic debugging analysis
Setting breakpoints and stepping through code
Strings search
Graphical view analysis
Defining functions from assembly code

Solving crackmes
Reverse debugging (stepping backwards)
Stepping over and analyzing the stack, register and memory hexdumps
Patching and replacing jumps with nops
Patching using xor eax, eax
Gui-crackme: string search method, defining functions and windows api
Phishing for passwords and serial keys
Renaming variables for static analysis
Using the rizin console and the rax2 command
Linux crackme2: using the debuggee console
Stepping into function calls
And more...
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Reverse engineering
Assembly language
Decompiling binary to c code
Register and memory analysis
Disassembling binary to assembly code
Reversing jumps
Using nops to disable instructions
Windows api
C/c++ functions
Static analysis
Dynamic debugging analysis
Setting breakpoints and stepping through code
Strings search
Graphical view analysis
Defining functions from assembly code
Solving crackmes
Reverse debugging (stepping backwards)
Stepping over and analyzing the stack, register and memory hexdumps
Patching and replacing jumps with nops
Patching using xor eax, eax
Gui-crackme: string search method, defining functions and windows api
Phishing for passwords and serial keys
Renaming variables for static analysis
Using the rizin console and the rax2 command
Linux crackme2: using the debuggee console
Stepping into function calls
And more...
Show more
Show less

Syllabus

Introduction

Downloading Cutter, installing and testing it

Introduction to the Cutter User Interface and Downloading Crackme's

Downloading Crackme's and some preliminary tips

Exploring Cutter's User Interface

Basic Static Analysis

Basic Dynamic Analysis and Stepping Over

Stepping Over and Analyzing the Stack and Hexdumps

Patching binaries: reversing jumps

Reversing jumps

Patching: Replacing jumps with NOPs

Patching: xor eax, eax

Gui-Crackme: String search method, defining functions and windows API

Analyzing the windows API stack

Using xor eax, eax to set API parameter and also bypass jump

Phishing for the serial key

Installing Cutter for Linux

Intro to Linux crackmes, changing themes and the esc button

Renaming variables to aid static analysis

Cutter's new Reverse debugging feature

Using the Rizin console and the rax2 command

Linux crackme2: Using the Debuggee Console

Stepping into function calls

Phising passwords by analyzing registers and hexdumps

Phishing passwords - part 1

Phishing passwords - part 2

Phishing passwords - part 3

Resources for further study

Bonus Lecture

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Reverse Engineering: Cutter for Beginners with these activities:

Review Assembly Language Fundamentals

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Reinforce your understanding of assembly language concepts, which are crucial for reverse engineering and understanding disassembled code in Cutter.

Browse courses on Assembly Language

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Review basic assembly instructions (MOV, ADD, SUB, JMP).
Understand registers and memory addressing modes.
Practice reading simple assembly code snippets.

Read 'Reverse Engineering for Beginners'

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Gain a broader understanding of reverse engineering concepts and techniques, complementing the Cutter-specific skills learned in the course.

View Putting Knowledge to Work on Amazon

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Read the introductory chapters on assembly language and debugging.
Study the sections on different reverse engineering tools and techniques.
Review the examples of reverse engineering real-world applications.

Read 'Practical Reverse Engineering'

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Expand your knowledge of reverse engineering principles and techniques beyond Cutter, providing a broader understanding of the field.

View Practical Reverse Engineering on Amazon

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Read the chapters on x86 and x64 assembly.
Study the sections on debugging and disassembly tools.
Review the examples of reverse engineering real-world applications.

Four other activities

Expand to see all activities and additional details

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Solve Crackmes with Cutter

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Apply your Cutter skills to solve crackmes, reinforcing your understanding of reverse engineering techniques and improving your problem-solving abilities.

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Download crackmes from online resources (e.g., Crackmes.one).
Use Cutter to disassemble and analyze the crackme binary.
Identify the key logic and implement a solution to bypass the protection.
Document your approach and the steps you took to solve the crackme.

Write a Blog Post on a Cutter Feature

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Deepen your understanding of a specific Cutter feature by researching it thoroughly and explaining it in a clear and concise manner.

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Choose a Cutter feature (e.g., reverse debugging, graph view).
Research the feature and its functionality.
Write a blog post explaining the feature and providing examples of its use.
Include screenshots and code snippets to illustrate your points.

Reverse Engineer a Simple Program

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Solidify your understanding of reverse engineering principles by applying them to a real-world program, analyzing its functionality and identifying potential vulnerabilities.

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Choose a simple program to reverse engineer (e.g., a calculator or a text editor).
Use Cutter to disassemble and analyze the program's code.
Identify the program's key functions and data structures.
Document your findings and create a report summarizing your analysis.

Contribute to Cutter Documentation

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Improve your understanding of Cutter by contributing to its documentation, helping other users learn and use the tool effectively.

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Identify areas in the Cutter documentation that need improvement.
Write clear and concise documentation for the chosen area.
Submit your documentation changes to the Cutter project.

Career center

Learners who complete Reverse Engineering: Cutter for Beginners will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Reverse Engineer

A reverse engineer analyzes software or hardware to understand its design, functionality, and potential vulnerabilities. This course provides a solid foundation for this career. As a reverse engineer, you often work with disassembled code and debuggers to identify hidden features or security flaws. This course helps you use Cutter to disassemble binaries, decompile them to C code, and reverse debug. You'll learn to reverse jumps, patch binaries, and analyze memory hexdumps, skills directly applicable to the daily tasks of a reverse engineer. The course's focus on practical, hands-on exercises using free tools makes it an ideal starting point for aspiring reverse engineers.

See salaries and explore the career path for Reverse Engineer

Malware Analyst

Malware analysts examine malicious software to understand its behavior and develop methods for detection and removal. This course provides a strong foundation for this career. A malware analyst uses reverse engineering techniques to dissect malware samples, identify their functionalities, and characterize their impact. This course helps you use Cutter to analyze malware by disassembling code, examining control flow, and identifying malicious behaviors. The skills acquired in patching binaries and reversing jumps are directly applicable to understanding how malware operates. The course's hands-on approach using tools like Cutter makes it particularly relevant for aspiring malware analysts.

See salaries and explore the career path for Malware Analyst

Security Researcher

Security researchers investigate software and hardware systems to discover vulnerabilities and improve overall security. As a security researcher, you're involved in reverse engineering to identify exploits and design defenses. This course is useful for aspiring security researchers. You will learn techniques for static and dynamic analysis, including disassembling binaries, decompiling code, and debugging. The course's emphasis on patching binaries, reversing jumps, and analyzing memory hexdumps provides practical skills necessary for vulnerability discovery and exploit development. Learning to use Cutter effectively will accelerate a security researcher's workflow.

See salaries and explore the career path for Security Researcher

Vulnerability Analyst

Vulnerability analysts identify weaknesses in software and systems that could be exploited by attackers. Vulnerability analysis often involves reverse engineering to understand how software works and where vulnerabilities exist. This course provides a practical introduction to the tools and techniques used in this field. The course helps you learn to use Cutter to disassemble code and examine program behavior. Hands-on experience in patching binaries, reversing jumps, and conducting memory analysis provides invaluable skills for identifying and confirming vulnerabilities. The course's emphasis on practical exercises makes it an excellent first step toward becoming a vulnerability analyst.

See salaries and explore the career path for Vulnerability Analyst

Exploit Developer

Exploit developers create code that takes advantage of vulnerabilities in software or systems. Exploit development relies heavily on reverse engineering to understand the target's behavior and identify exploitable flaws. This course can be useful preparation for this career. This course provides a practical introduction to reverse engineering tools like Cutter. You learn to reverse engineer binaries, analyze disassembled code, and identify potential vulnerabilities. The ability to patch binaries and reverse jumps, skills taught in the course, are essential for crafting effective exploits and understanding how to bypass security measures. This course helps build a fundamental skill set for junior exploit developers.

See salaries and explore the career path for Exploit Developer

Computer Forensic Investigator

Computer forensic investigators analyze digital evidence to investigate cybercrimes. As a computer forensic investigator, you may need to reverse engineer malware or analyze suspicious files to understand their behavior. This course may be helpful for computer forensic investigators. Learning to use Cutter to disassemble binaries, analyze code, and identify patterns is useful in uncovering evidence and reconstructing events related to cybercrimes. You will also learn how to reverse engineer assembly code, which is quite applicable to the daily life of a forensics investigator.

See salaries and explore the career path for Computer Forensic Investigator

Application Security Engineer

Application security engineers focus on ensuring the security of software applications throughout the development lifecycle. As an application security engineer, you will work with developers to identify and remediate vulnerabilities in their code. This course may be helpful to application security engineers. You will learn to use reverse engineering techniques to analyze compiled applications and identify potential security flaws. The skills developed in disassembling binaries, analyzing control flow, and identifying vulnerabilities can be directly applied to the task of securing applications.

See salaries and explore the career path for Application Security Engineer

Cybersecurity Analyst

Cybersecurity analysts protect computer systems and networks from threats. This role involves monitoring systems for suspicious activity, investigating security incidents, and implementing security measures. This course provides a foundation for a cybersecurity analyst. As part of their investigative work, cybersecurity analysts may need to reverse engineer malware or analyze suspicious files to understand their behavior. Learning to use Cutter to disassemble binaries, analyze code, and identify malicious patterns is useful in identifying and mitigating security threats.

See salaries and explore the career path for Cybersecurity Analyst

Security Consultant

Security consultants advise organizations on how to improve their security posture, often performing security assessments and penetration testing. Security consulting may involve reverse engineering to evaluate the security of software or hardware systems. This course may be useful for those looking to become security consultants. You will learn to use Cutter to analyze binaries, identify vulnerabilities, and assess potential risks. The skills you will acquire, particularly related to static and dynamic analysis, are valuable when evaluating the security of custom applications or embedded systems. The course's practical examples of patching binaries and reversing jumps can help you better understand exploit techniques.

See salaries and explore the career path for Security Consultant

Incident Responder

Incident responders manage and contain security incidents, such as data breaches or malware infections. Incident response sometimes requires reverse engineering skills to analyze malware and understand the extent of an intrusion. This course may be valuable for aspiring incident responders. You will learn to use Cutter to reverse engineer malware samples, analyze code, and identify the attacker's methods and goals. The ability to patch binaries and reverse jumps can be useful for containing malware and preventing further damage. By taking this course, an incident responder can respond to incidents with confidence.

See salaries and explore the career path for Incident Responder

Penetration Tester

A penetration tester, sometimes called an ethical hacker, attempts to find and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems. Penetration testing often utilizes reverse engineering techniques to understand how systems work and identify potential weaknesses. This course may be useful for aspiring penetration testers. The course's skills of disassembling binaries, analyzing code, and debugging are useful during the reverse engineering phase of a penetration test. Learning to use Cutter effectively can help a penetration tester quickly identify potential vulnerabilities and develop proof-of-concept exploits. The course's hands-on approach using tools like Cutter makes it relevant for penetration testing.

See salaries and explore the career path for Penetration Tester

Firmware Engineer

Firmware engineers develop software that controls hardware devices, often working with embedded systems and low-level code. Firmware analysis often involves reverse engineering to understand the operation of existing firmware or to identify security vulnerabilities. This course may be useful for firmware engineers. You will learn to disassemble and analyze binary code, which is essential for understanding how firmware works. The techniques taught in patching binaries and reversing jumps are useful for modifying existing firmware or developing custom firmware solutions. Learning to use Cutter for reverse engineering will assist in disassembling binary code.

See salaries and explore the career path for Firmware Engineer

Software Developer

Software developers design, write, and test code for applications and systems. While not always a primary focus, reverse engineering skills can be useful for debugging, understanding legacy code, or analyzing third-party libraries. This course may be useful for software developers. You will learn to use Cutter to analyze code, identify potential issues, and understand the behavior of unfamiliar software components. The ability to disassemble and decompile code can be helpful for debugging complex problems, understanding how third-party libraries work, or reverse engineering legacy systems that lack proper documentation.

See salaries and explore the career path for Software Developer

IT Security Specialist

IT security specialists are responsible for the overall security of an organization's information technology infrastructure. While reverse engineering may not be a daily task, understanding basic reverse engineering principles can be helpful for identifying and mitigating security risks. This course may be useful for IT security specialists. You will gain a better understanding of how attackers analyze systems and exploit vulnerabilities. The knowledge gained can inform security decisions and help improve an organization's overall security posture. IT security specialists can get ahead by applying techniques taught in this course.

See salaries and explore the career path for IT Security Specialist

System Administrator

System administrators are responsible for maintaining and managing computer systems and servers. While not directly related, an understanding of reverse engineering can be useful for troubleshooting and diagnosing system problems. This course may be useful for system administrators. By learning to disassemble and analyze code, you can gain a deeper understanding of how systems work and identify potential issues. System administrators are often tasked with security updates and malware removal. This course helps to ensure that these tasks are carried out safely and effectively.

See salaries and explore the career path for System Administrator

Reverse Engineering

Cutter for Beginners

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Learning objectives

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Activities

Career center

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