Insecure Deserialization Exploitation

Insecure Deserialization Exploitation occurs during the Payload Execution phase when attackers leverage vulnerabilities in how applications deserialize objects to execute malicious code remotely. This sub-technique involves manipulating serialized data structures (JSON, XML, binary formats, etc.) that are consumed by the target application, injecting malicious code that executes during the deserialization process. When a vulnerable application deserializes attacker-controlled input without proper validation or sanitization, the application reconstructs objects while potentially invoking methods and class constructors that can be chained together to create "gadgets" - sequences of code that perform malicious operations. Attackers commonly target popular programming languages and frameworks with native deserialization mechanisms including Java, PHP, .NET, Python, and Ruby to achieve arbitrary code execution, manipulate application logic, escalate privileges, or pivot deeper into target environments. Successful exploitation can lead to complete system compromise as the code typically executes with the same privileges as the application process handling the deserialization.