Binary code Randomization for Attack Sensitive Software (BRASS)

Most of the existing efforts fighting against cyber-attacks in critical cyber systems are focused on achieving resiliency and survivability. However, there are specific mission requirements for certain types of critical cyber systems that demand for the mission software to fail/crash, as soon as possible, when cyber-attack is successful and a program control is lost, rather than to operate in some degraded or compromised state. Existing cyber-defensive controls do not provide such capabilities. BRASS creates the “fast-crash” properties by automatically applying novel binary code randomization and transformation diversification techniques to a legacy binary software. The newly generated binary software variant would crash quickly and consistently when attacks/exploits are successful. The BRASS approach also provides a proof of functional equivalence for all software variants produced using the BRASS binary transformation method. BRASS accomplishes these objectives with acceptable size overhead and no noticeable degradation in system performance. BRASS provides the level of diversification sufficient to guarantee that an attack that succeeded in the original program or in a single variant will fail (crash) other variants. BRASS diversification techniques do not require the source code, symbol store, debugging or relocation information, and can be applied to software binaries that are already deployed by DoD.