How Hackers Exploit Milliseconds - TOCTOU Attacks

Olivia Gallucci drinks White Monster while walking us through return-oriented programming

Milliseconds matter. In this episode, we crack open a White Monster with Olivia Galuchcci and dig into TOCTOU attacks: Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use. These race condition vulnerabilities exploit tiny windows in logic, letting attackers escalate privileges, hijack processes, and sneak malicious payloads past your code’s defenses. Olivia shares how she stumbled into this underrated bug class, why it's shockingly common in 2025, and how even major products like Docker and Tesla fall prey to it.

About The Show:

Hackers On The Rocks mixes refreshing conversation with potent cybersecurity insights. Each episode tackles a specific software vulnerability class and a cocktail. Both go down easy. Cheers!The cybersecurity world is a vibrant mix of technical talent and strategic minds. Here at Hackers on the Rocks, we raise a glass to the unsung heroes: the practitioners. While the broader community encompasses diverse roles including governance, risk, and compliance managers, network analysts, and incident responders, our podcast celebrates the hackers on the front lines. It is researchers who are deciphering code, digging into products, and finding unintended consequences within design implementations. Join us as we raise a glass to their expertise and translate their knowledge into clear, actionable insights for everyone.