Heavy Wizardry 101: Shellcodes, Backdoors, Droppers and Worms

Aspiring hackers will learn foundational programming in C and assembly languages from a veteran hacker and develop the skills to create their own hacking tools. Your spellbook for code close to the metal. In hacker circles, heavy wizardry means code that trades on intimate knowledge of a system-the kind that speaks its private dialects and bends its rules. Heavy Wizardry 101 teaches you to write it. You'll build shellcode, backdoors, droppers, and worms from scratch, working at the instruction level where magic happens. Every project is implemented for four architectures- x86_64, ARM, MIPS, and RISC-V. You'll write the same program four times, seeing exactly what stays constant and what changes. Each chapter starts with architecture fundamentals, such as memory layout, calling conventions, and stack mechanics, then walks through complete working implementations on Linux in safe, contained environments. Learn to- Write position-independent shellcode and programs that execute in constrained memory spaces Implement TCP reverse shells that bypass basic network restrictions Build executable droppers that embed and deploy payloads without detection Create self-replicating worms that propagate across networked systems Write basic port scanners to discover services in a network Port low-level code between architectures by understanding instruction-level differences Whether you're a penetration tester who wants to stop depending on Metasploit, a security researcher analyzing malware, or a systems programmer who needs to understand how computers work, this book gives you the skills to build and reason about code at the lowest level.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I: Into the Machine: Awakening Code Spells
Chapter 1: Spell of the Binary Oracle: When Hardware Whispers in Opcodes
Chapter 2: Spell of Essence: Distilling C to Its Primordial ASM
Chapter 3: Spell of Rebirth: Transmuting Greetings into Shellcode
Chapter 4: Spell of Overflowing Frame: Mastering Stack Secrets
Chapter 5: Spell of the Undead: Writing a REPL to Animate a Botnet

Part II: Onto the Network: Unveiling Mystic Gateways
Chapter 6: Veil of Shadows: Unlocking Hidden Backdoors
Chapter 7: Veil of Ash: The Dropper That Leaves No Flame Behind

Part III: Through the Network: Casting Crawlers
Chapter 8: Casting the Twin Serpent: Summoning a Two-Headed Worm
Chapter 9: Casting the Lone Strand: Single-Stage Wormcraft
Chapter 10: Casting the Lost Hosts: Conjuring Network Scanners

Appendixes: The Forge
Appendix A: The Sorcerer's Forge: Preparing Your Workshop
Appendix B: Secrets of the Forge: Arcane Tricks for Low-Level Tools

Index

About the Author :
David Martinez Oliveira, aka Pico, has been writing code close to the metal since the 1990s, building software for computer vision, communications systems, laboratory equipment, and AR/VR/MR applications. A longtime GNU/Linux user, he explores security and low-level system internals both professionally and for fun.

Review :
"Heavy Wizardry 101 is a well-organized and accessible introduction to low-level programming in assembly for Linux, crafting multi-stage shellcode loaders, network and binary tools, and ELF binaries using only standard, open-source GNU command-line tools."
—Sergi Àlvarez i Capilla (aka pancake), Author of radare2