An advanced approach for modeling and detecting software vulnerabilities - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Information and Software Technology Année : 2012

An advanced approach for modeling and detecting software vulnerabilities

Résumé

Context: Passive testing is a technique in which traces collected from the execution of a system under test are examined for evidence of flaws in the system. Objective: In this paper we present a method for detecting the presence of security vulnerabilities by detecting evidence of their causes in execution traces. This is a new approach to security vulnerability detection. Method: Our method uses formal models of vulnerability causes, known as security goal models and vulnerability detection conditions (VDCs). The former are used to identify the causes of vulnerabilities and model their dependencies, and the latter to give a formal interpretation that is suitable for vulnerability detection using passive testing techniques. We have implemented modeling tools for security goal models and vulnerability detection conditions, as well as TestInv-Code, a tool that checks execution traces of compiled programs for evidence of VDCs. Results: We present the full definitions of security goal models and vulnerability detection conditions, as well as structured methods for creating both. We describe the design and implementation of TestInv-Code. Finally we show results obtained from running TestInv-Code to detect typical vulnerabilities in several open source projects. By testing versions with known vulnerabilities, we can quantify the effectiveness of the approach. Conclusion: Although the current implementation has some limitations, passive testing for vulnerability detection works well, and using models as the basis for testing ensures that users of the testing tool can easily extend it to handle new vulnerabilities.

Dates et versions

hal-00739075 , version 1 (05-10-2012)

Identifiants

Citer

Nahid Shahmehri, Amel Mammar, Edgardo Montes de Oca, David Byers, Ana Rosa Cavalli, et al.. An advanced approach for modeling and detecting software vulnerabilities. Information and Software Technology, 2012, 54 (9), pp.997-1013. ⟨10.1016/j.infsof.2012.03.004⟩. ⟨hal-00739075⟩
62 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More