The SQL Server Unicode problem: why your data might not be what you think it is? (2026)

This article is about how the Unicode implementation of Microsoft SQL Server has impact on security. This article covers default encodings, collation algorithms, restricted character sets, implicit conversions, string functions and operators, as well as the collisions they can introduce. It also examines the security implications of the "Best Fit" algorithm and why seemingly equivalent characters may not be treated as such. One thing is certain: your data is probably not what you think it is!

Implicit Unicode behaviors in database string functions (2025)

Article (p. 73) in Paged Out! magazine n°6 describing security impact of Unicode-related implicit behaviors in databases. Tackling MariaDB / MySQL, collation, LIKE(), STRCMP(), case-insensitive comparison and collision.

Theft of NTLM v2 hash code via Outlook vulnerability (CVE-2023-35636) (2024)

Showcasing exploitation of the calendar sharing feature in Microsoft Outlook, whereby adding two headers to an email instructs Outlook to share the content and contact a designated machine, creating an opportunity to intercept NTLM v2 hash code.

LDAP pass back attack (2023)

Methodology for Active Directory domain accounts takeover through LDAP pass back attack on printers.

GraphQL for Pentesters (2023)

Introducing GraphQL security for penetration tests: basic concepts, security considerations & reconnaissance, vulnerabilities and attacks, offensive tools.

ffuf advanced tricks (2022)

Covers advanced use case of ffuf: the configuration file, reading from standard input, avoiding false negatives with match all and filtering with regexp, use of external payload mutators.

Cracking encrypted archives (PKZIP: Zip ZipCrypto, Winzip: Zip AES, 7 Zip, RAR) (2022)

Biham and Kocher plaintext attack on ZipCrypto Zip and wordlist attack on Zip, 7-zip and RAR.

Attaques Unicode - Rump BreizhCTF 2k22 (2022)

Case transformation collision and Hostname splitting Unicode attacks.

Security.txt | Progress in Ethical Security Research (2020)

This article looks to answer the question of how widely adopted security.txt has become, 3 years on from when it was first drafted.

SSH Pentesting Guide (2020)

A Comprehensive Guide to Breaking SSH.

What could go wrong when MySQL strict SQL mode is off? (2025)

This article shows some examples of attacks that can abuse MySQL behavior when the strict SQL mode is disabled, especially when string characters are invalid in the current encoding. This happens when the encoding of the application (e.g. UTF-8) is wider than that of the database (e.g. ASCII).

How to crack encrypted SSH private keys? (2024)

How to break SSH keys. For the different key types, encryption types and file formats, whether using a script, Hashcat or John.

Tackling PXE images (2024)

Demystifying the nuts and bolts of PXE boot, and explaining how to retrieve and analyze a PXE image to find secrets (such as an AD domain account).

Kirby < 3.9.6 XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability — CVE-2023-38490 (2023)

Detailed write-up about an XXE on Kirby CMS (CVE-2023-38490).

What’s new in ffuf 2.0 release? (2023)

Covers new features in ffuf 2.0: scrapper, request backtracking, configuration supporting XDG_CONFIG_HOME.

Transform P3 P4 P5 vulnerabilities to P1 (2022)

How to steal user sessions by chaining low risk vulnerabilities.

Ruby 3.2.0 Preview 1 : vivre dans le futur (2022)

Overview of the new features that will come in Ruby 3.2.0: WebAssembly (WASM / WASI), ReDoS protection, Unicode v14.

Some sudo elevation of privilege vulnerabilities (2021)

An introduction to 3 sudo vulnerabilities: CVE-2019-14287, CVE-2019-18634, CVE-2021-3156.

Shodan Pentesting Guide (2020)

Delving deep into Shodan's mine.

Overview of network pivoting and tunneling (2019)

State of the art of network pivoting, this paper covers several pivoting techniques as well as the existing tools to perform a lateral move.