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Exterminator: Automatically Correcting Memory Errors with High Probability
Proceedings of the 2007 ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation (2007)
  • Gene Novak
  • Emery D. Berger, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • Benjamin G. Zorn
Abstract

Programs written in C and C++ are susceptible to memory errors, including buffer overflows and dangling pointers. These errors, which can lead to crashes, erroneous execution, and security vulnerabilities, are notoriously costly to repair. Tracking down their location in the source code is difficult, even when the full memory state of the program is available. Once the errors are finally found, fixing them remains challenging: even for critical security-sensitive bugs, the average time between initial reports and the issuance of a patch is nearly one month. We present Exterminator, a system that automatically corrects heap-based memory errors without programmer intervention. Exterminator exploits randomization to pinpoint errors with high precision. From this information, Exterminator derives runtime patches that fix these errors in both in current and subsequent executions. In addition, Exterminator enables collaborative bug correction by merging patches generated by multiple users. We present analytical and empirical results that demonstrate Exterminator's effectiveness at detecting and correcting both injected and real faults.

Keywords
  • DieFast,
  • Exterminator,
  • dynamic memory allocation,
  • error correction,
  • memory errors,
  • probabilistic memory safety,
  • randomized algorithms
Disciplines
Publication Date
2007
Citation Information
Gene Novak, Emery D. Berger and Benjamin G. Zorn. "Exterminator: Automatically Correcting Memory Errors with High Probability" Proceedings of the 2007 ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation (2007)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/emery_berger/3/