CS161 Fall 2026
Instructors: David Wagner, Peyrin Kao / Lecture: MWF, 12:00–1:00 PM, Physics Building 1 [Zoom, Playlist]
Announcements
Week 7 Announcements
- We have opened up sign-ups for Week 3 DUEs sign ups. Please go to #143 for more information. Due to the midterm being this week, we will release some slots next week as well.
- Project 2 has been released! Please see more information at #82! It’s important to read through the spec and release post carefully.
- We have updated instructions in the Getting Started Section regarding the starter code. Please refer to #111 for any questions regarding Classroom50 setup. Make sure you have accepted invite to the cs161-students organization on GitHub sent to your Berkeley email.
- Friday, September 25th: Project 2 Spec Quiz Due
- Friday, October 2nd: Design checkpoint due
- Friday, October 23rd: Testing checkpoint due (Upcoming Deadline)
- Friday, October 30th: Project 2 (coding and final design doc) due
- The midterm is this Thursday October 8th. For more information, refer to #124.
- We have two review sessions this week, you can find the information at #145.
- If you need any alterations (i.e. left handed desk, extended time) for the midterm, or have an issue with your assigned time/location, please email staff at cs161@berkeley.edu. However, we will no longer be able to guarantee to accommodate your request at this time.
- A reminder about extensions:
- While we try to grant all extensions as quickly as possible, please allow 1 full business day for your request to be processed. (A business day refers to the typical hours in a day when normal business operations take place. A business day is normally Monday through Friday, from 9am to 5pm and excludes weekends and public holidays).
- Emailing any members of staff will not make this faster, in fact it usually slows down the response time for the extension request.
- Take care of yourselves: your health is most important. Please request an extension if you are ever feeling stressed. We are here to support you!
Course Calendar
| Wk. | Date | Lecture | Discussion | HW | Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Wed Aug 26 | 1. Introduction and Security Principles Slides / Recording / Ch. 1 |
0. 61C Review Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions |
HW1
(due Wed Sep 16) |
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Fri Aug 28 | 2. x86 Assembly and Call Stack Slides / Recording / Ch. 2 / x86/GDB Cheat Sheet |
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| 2 |
Mon Aug 31 | 3. Memory Safety Vulnerabilities Slides / Recording / Ch. 3.1, 3.2 |
1. Security Principles and x86 Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
Project 1 Checkpoint
(due Fri Sep 11) |
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Wed Sep 02 | 4. Memory Safety Vulnerabilities (continued) Slides / Recording / Ch. 3.4, 3.6 |
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Fri Sep 04 | 5. Mitigating Memory Safety Vulnerabilities Slides / Recording / Ch. 4 |
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| 3 |
Mon Sep 07 | No Lecture (holiday) |
2. Memory Safety Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides |
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Wed Sep 09 | 6. Mitigating Memory Safety Vulnerabilities (continued) Slides / Recording / Ch. 4 |
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Fri Sep 11 | 7. Authentication, Cryptographic Hashes Slides / Recording / Ch. 7 |
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| 4 |
Mon Sep 14 | 8. MACs Slides / Recording / Ch. 8 |
3. Memory Safety Mitigations and Injection Attacks Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions |
Project 1
(due Fri Sep 18) |
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Wed Sep 16 | 9. Signatures Slides / Recording / Ch. 12 |
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Fri Sep 18 | 10. Public-Key Infrastructure Slides / Recording / Ch. 13 |
HW2
(due Wed Sep 30) |
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| 5 |
Mon Sep 21 | 11. Public-Key Infrastructure (continued) Slides / Recording / Ch. 13 |
4. Intro to Auth (Hashes and MACs) Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions |
Project 2 Spec Quiz
(due Fri Sep 25) |
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Wed Sep 23 | 12. Symmetric-Key Encryption Slides / Recording / Ch. 6 |
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Fri Sep 25 | 13. Symmetric-Key Encryption (continued) Slides / Recording / Ch. 6 |
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| 6 |
Mon Sep 28 | 14. Authenticated Encryption Slides / Recording / Ch. 8.7 |
5. Symmetric Key Encryption and Key Exchange Discussion: Worksheet / Solutions / Slides Exam Prep: Worksheet / Solutions |
Project 2 Design Checkpoint
(due Fri Oct 02) |
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Wed Sep 30 | 15. Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange, Public-Key Encryption Slides / Recording / Ch. 10 / Ch. 11 |
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Fri Oct 02 | 16. How the Internet Works Slides / Recording / Ch. 25 |
HW3
(due Wed Oct 14) |
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| 7 |
Mon Oct 05 | 17. Low-Level Network Attacks Slides / Recording / Ch. 26 / Ch. 29 / Ch. 30 |
Midterm: No Discussion | Project 2 Testing Checkpoint
(due Fri Oct 23) |
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Wed Oct 07 | 18. TLS Slides / Recording / Ch. 31 |
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Thu Oct 08 | Midterm (Thu Oct 08, 7–9pm PT) |
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Fri Oct 09 | 19. What TLS Doesn't Solve Slides / Ch. 34 / Ch. 39 |
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| 8 |
Mon Oct 12 | 20. End-to-End Security | 6. Intro to Network + TLS | ||
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Wed Oct 14 | 21. Buffer | HW4
(due Wed Oct 21) |
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Fri Oct 16 | 22. Network Defense | ||||
| 9 |
Mon Oct 19 | 23. Intro to Web Applications | 7. | ||
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Wed Oct 21 | 24. SQL Injection Ch. 17 |
HW5
(due Wed Oct 28) |
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Fri Oct 23 | 25. XSS Ch. 22 |
Project 2
(due Fri Oct 30) |
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| 10 |
Mon Oct 26 | 26. Web Authentication, CSRF Ch. 20 / Ch. 21 |
8. | ||
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Wed Oct 28 | 27. Buffer | HW6
(due Wed Nov 11) |
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Fri Oct 30 | 28. UI Security Ch. 23 |
Project 3
(due Fri Nov 13) |
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| 11 |
Mon Nov 02 | 29. Isolation I: Benefits | 9. | ||
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Wed Nov 04 | 30. Isolation II: Techniques, Access Control | ||||
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Fri Nov 06 | 31. Buffer | ||||
| 12 |
Mon Nov 09 | 32. AI Security 1 | 10. | ||
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Wed Nov 11 | No Lecture (holiday) |
HW7
(due Wed Dec 02) |
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Fri Nov 13 | 33. AI Security 2 | ||||
| 13 |
Mon Nov 16 | 34. AI Security 3 | 11. | ||
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Wed Nov 18 | 35. Buffer | ||||
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Fri Nov 20 | 36. Buffer | ||||
| 14 |
Mon Nov 23 | 37. Buffer | 12. | ||
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Wed Nov 25 | No Lecture (Thanksgiving holiday) |
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Fri Nov 27 | |||||
| 15 |
Mon Nov 30 | 38. Buffer | 13. | ||
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Wed Dec 02 | 39. Case study: Signal | ||||
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Fri Dec 04 | 40. Case Study: iPhone Security | ||||
| 16 |
Mon Dec 07 | No Lecture (RRR Week) |
14. Topical Review Sessions (RRR Week) | ||
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Wed Dec 09 | |||||
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Fri Dec 11 | |||||
| 17 |
Fri Dec 18 | Final Exam (Fri Dec 18, 11:30am–2:30pm PT) |
HW8
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Project 8
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