The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jul. 12, 2016

Filed:

May. 04, 2007
Applicants:

Manuel Costa, Cambridge, GB;

Miguel Castro, Cambridge, GB;

Tim Harris, Cambridge, GB;

Inventors:

Manuel Costa, Cambridge, GB;

Miguel Castro, Cambridge, GB;

Tim Harris, Cambridge, GB;

Assignee:
Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 9/44 (2006.01); G06F 21/54 (2013.01); G06F 21/52 (2013.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 21/54 (2013.01); G06F 21/52 (2013.01);
Abstract

The majority of such software attacks exploit software vulnerabilities or flaws to write data to unintended locations. For example, control-data attacks exploit buffer overflows or other vulnerabilities to overwrite a return address in the stack, a function pointer, or some other piece of control data. Non-control-data attacks exploit similar vulnerabilities to overwrite security critical data without subverting the intended control flow in the program. We describe a method for securing software against both control-data and non-control-data attacks. A static analysis is carried out to determine data flow information for a software program. Data-flow tracking instructions are formed in order to track data flow during execution or emulation of that software. Also, checking instructions are formed to check the tracked data flow against the static analysis results and thereby identify potential attacks or errors. Optional optimisations are described to reduce the resulting additional overheads.


Find Patent Forward Citations

Loading…