APPLICATION LAYER SECURITY

Thick Client Security Assessment

Most scanners stop at HTTP. Privilege Zero goes deeper — dissecting your desktop application at the binary, memory, and protocol level to find what automated tools are blind to.

THICK CLIENT — BINARY LAYER UI LAYER WinForms / Qt Electron / .NET BUSINESS LOGIC auth · crypto · IPC LOCAL STORAGE SQLite · registry · files HOOK
The Challenge

Why Thick Clients Need Dedicated Testing

Web application scanners and API testing tools are built for HTTP. Thick client applications — .NET WinForms, Java Swing, Electron, Qt, and native binaries — communicate through proprietary protocols, named pipes, COM interfaces, and custom binary formats that standard tools completely ignore.

The business logic lives inside the binary. Cryptographic keys get embedded. Authentication tokens are stored in SQLite databases readable by any local process. Privilege Zero brings the same rigour to your desktop software that elite researchers apply to the most complex targets.

A single thick client vulnerability — a hardcoded API key, a deserialisation gadget, an unsigned auto-update endpoint — can hand an attacker full server-side access. We find these before your clients do.

6
Attack Layers Assessed (UI, Logic, IPC, Network, Storage, Binary)
x64
Native + .NET + JVM + Electron Supported
100%
Manual Analysis — No Automated Scanner Output
Runtime
Instrumentation with Frida, x64dbg & WinDbg
Methodology

Six-Layer Attack Approach

01
Architecture Reverse Engineering

Identify the technology stack, communication channels (HTTP, TCP, named pipes, COM), and third-party library inventory before a single tool runs. We map what the application does before we test how it fails.

02
Static Binary Analysis

Decompile .NET assemblies, deobfuscate Java bytecode, and disassemble native binaries to inspect hardcoded credentials, weak cryptographic implementations, and dangerous deserialization call chains.

03
Runtime Instrumentation

Attach Frida, x64dbg, or WinDbg to the live process to intercept authentication calls, observe token handling, and manipulate in-memory data structures — revealing logic flaws invisible to static analysis.

04
Network Traffic Interception & Manipulation

Proxy all client-server communications — including non-HTTP protocols — to test for parameter tampering, missing TLS validation, IDOR, and authentication bypass on every API endpoint the client contacts.

05
IPC & Inter-Process Channel Testing

Enumerate and attack all inter-process communication: named pipes, COM objects, local sockets, shared memory segments, and Windows message queues for injection and privilege escalation opportunities.

06
Local Storage & Memory Forensics

Extract credentials, tokens, and PII from SQLite databases, AppData directories, registry hives, temporary files, and live process memory — quantifying exactly what an attacker with local access can harvest.

Coverage

Attack Classes We Investigate

Hardcoded CredentialsInsecure Deserialization DLL Hijacking & Side-LoadingUnquoted Service Paths Memory Scraping (Tokens & Keys)IPC / Named Pipe Injection TLS Certificate Pinning BypassWeak / Homebrew Cryptography Auto-Update Mechanism AbuseLocal Privilege Escalation Registry Key & File ACL ExposureCOM Object Hijacking Local SQLite SQL InjectionAnti-Debugging Bypass Sensitive Data in Log FilesInsecure Temporary File Handling
What Makes Us Different

Beyond the Web Proxy

🔬
Binary-Level Decompilation

We decompile .NET, Java, and Electron applications to readable source and inspect assembly-level logic — not just what the application exposes over the network.

Live Process Hooking

Runtime instrumentation lets us intercept function calls mid-execution — catching secrets that exist only in memory and vulnerabilities that manifest only at runtime.

🔗
Full Protocol Coverage

Named pipes, COM, RPC, custom TCP — we test every communication channel the application uses, not just HTTP endpoints that a proxy can intercept.

🛠️
Developer-Grade Remediation

Each finding identifies the responsible module, assembly, or function — with code-level remediation guidance that developers can act on immediately.

Report Package

What You Walk Away With

Executive Risk Summary

Business-risk narrative of findings mapped to potential impact: data breach, privilege escalation, or supply chain compromise.

Technical Findings Report

Full per-finding documentation — CVSS v3.1 score, CWE identifier, reproduction steps, affected binary/module, and remediation code.

Binary Analysis Artefacts

Annotated decompiled source, memory dumps, and Wireshark captures that support every critical finding — reproducible by your team.

Free Retest

Complimentary verification retest of all critical and high findings after you've shipped remediations.

Get Started

Your Desktop App Deserves the Same Scrutiny as Your API

Tell us your tech stack and we'll scope a fixed-price assessment within 24 hours.

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