On the effectiveness of code normalization for function identification

Angelos Oikonomopoulos; Remco Vermeulen; Cristiano Giuffrida; Herbert Bos

doi:10.1109/PRDC.2018.00045

On the effectiveness of code normalization for function identification

Angelos Oikonomopoulos, Remco Vermeulen, Cristiano Giuffrida, Herbert Bos

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Information on the identity of functions is typically removed when translating source code to executable form. Yet being able to recognize specific functions opens up a number of applications. In this paper, we investigate normalization-based approaches for the purposes of aiding the reverse engineer and as an enabler for the rejuvenation of legacy binaries. We iteratively refine our methods and report on their effectiveness. Our results show that a naive approach can be surprisingly effective in both problem domains. Further, our evaluation looks into more advanced normalization techniques and finds that their practicality varies significantly with the problem domain.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2018 IEEE 23rd Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing (PRDC 2018)
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings
Publisher	IEEE Computer Society
Pages	241-251
Number of pages	11
ISBN (Electronic)	9781538657003
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/PRDC.2018.00045
Publication status	Published - 11 Feb 2019
Event	23rd IEEE Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing, PRDC 2018 - Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China Duration: 4 Dec 2018 → 7 Dec 2018

Conference

Conference	23rd IEEE Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing, PRDC 2018
Country/Territory	Taiwan, Province of China
City	Taipei
Period	4/12/18 → 7/12/18

Keywords

Binary analysis
Binary rejuvenation
Program equivalence
Reverse engineering

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10.1109/PRDC.2018.00045

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title = "On the effectiveness of code normalization for function identification",

abstract = "Information on the identity of functions is typically removed when translating source code to executable form. Yet being able to recognize specific functions opens up a number of applications. In this paper, we investigate normalization-based approaches for the purposes of aiding the reverse engineer and as an enabler for the rejuvenation of legacy binaries. We iteratively refine our methods and report on their effectiveness. Our results show that a naive approach can be surprisingly effective in both problem domains. Further, our evaluation looks into more advanced normalization techniques and finds that their practicality varies significantly with the problem domain.",

keywords = "Binary analysis, Binary rejuvenation, Program equivalence, Reverse engineering",

author = "Angelos Oikonomopoulos and Remco Vermeulen and Cristiano Giuffrida and Herbert Bos",

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doi = "10.1109/PRDC.2018.00045",

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booktitle = "2018 IEEE 23rd Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing (PRDC 2018)",

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note = "23rd IEEE Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing, PRDC 2018 ; Conference date: 04-12-2018 Through 07-12-2018",

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Oikonomopoulos, A, Vermeulen, R, Giuffrida, C & Bos, H 2019, On the effectiveness of code normalization for function identification. in 2018 IEEE 23rd Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing (PRDC 2018): Proceedings., 8639041, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 241-251, 23rd IEEE Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing, PRDC 2018, Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China, 4/12/18. https://doi.org/10.1109/PRDC.2018.00045

On the effectiveness of code normalization for function identification. / Oikonomopoulos, Angelos; Vermeulen, Remco; Giuffrida, Cristiano et al.

2018 IEEE 23rd Pacific Rim International Symposium on Dependable Computing (PRDC 2018): Proceedings. IEEE Computer Society, 2019. p. 241-251 8639041.

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Y1 - 2019/2/11

N2 - Information on the identity of functions is typically removed when translating source code to executable form. Yet being able to recognize specific functions opens up a number of applications. In this paper, we investigate normalization-based approaches for the purposes of aiding the reverse engineer and as an enabler for the rejuvenation of legacy binaries. We iteratively refine our methods and report on their effectiveness. Our results show that a naive approach can be surprisingly effective in both problem domains. Further, our evaluation looks into more advanced normalization techniques and finds that their practicality varies significantly with the problem domain.

AB - Information on the identity of functions is typically removed when translating source code to executable form. Yet being able to recognize specific functions opens up a number of applications. In this paper, we investigate normalization-based approaches for the purposes of aiding the reverse engineer and as an enabler for the rejuvenation of legacy binaries. We iteratively refine our methods and report on their effectiveness. Our results show that a naive approach can be surprisingly effective in both problem domains. Further, our evaluation looks into more advanced normalization techniques and finds that their practicality varies significantly with the problem domain.

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On the effectiveness of code normalization for function identification

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