| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 12, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 2, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 1749895 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Sol Greenspan
sgreensp@nsf.gov (703)292-7841 CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | June 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | November 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $499,899.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $499,899.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2019 = $97,603.00 FY 2020 = $99,965.00 FY 2021 = $102,399.00 FY 2022 = $104,906.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
W5510 FRANKS MELVILLE MEMORIAL LIBRARY STONY BROOK NY US 11794-0001 (631)632-9949 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NY US 11794-4400 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Secure &Trustworthy Cyberspace |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
The exploitation of memory corruption vulnerabilities in popular software is among the leading causes of system compromise and malware infection. While there are several reasons behind this proliferation of exploitable bugs, the reliance on unsafe programming languages such as C and C++ and the complexity of modern software play a major role. The continuous discovery of previously unknown (zero-day) vulnerabilities in browsers, document viewers, and other widely used software, and the lack of effective defenses against recent exploitation techniques that leverage memory disclosure vulnerabilities, necessitate the development of additional defense mechanisms.
The main objective of this project is the design of software shielding techniques and their practical applicability to commodity software and systems. The key innovative aspects of the investigated techniques include: i) principled design that considers the strong adversarial models imposed by the latest exploitation advancements, i.e., disclosure-aided exploitation and data-only attacks, against which effective countermeasures remain an open problem; ii) novel code specialization and data protection techniques, to introduce process-level unpredictability and limit the exposure of critical data; iii) hardware-assisted implementation by leveraging recent and upcoming processor features to minimize the performance impact of the applied protections; and iv) focus on practical considerations, such as operational compatibility and non-disruptive deployment. The outcomes of this research effort are expected to improve the state of the art in defenses against advanced exploits, and achieve substantial practical impact by shielding existing vulnerable applications against exploitation, benefiting both end users and security researchers. The project also provides students the opportunity to conduct research in cybersecurity, and fosters the integration of cybersecurity into high school education through hands-on workshops for students and seminars for science teachers.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The continuous discovery of previously unknown (zero-day) vulnerabilities in browsers, document viewers, and other widely used software, and the lack of effective defenses against recent exploitation techniques that leverage memory disclosure vulnerabilities, necessitate the development of additional defense mechanisms. The core scientific contribution of this project lies in the design and implementation of several innovative security techniques to protect both user-level and operating system software from memory-related exploits. Major accomplishments include:
- Code Specialization and Randomization. The team created methods to remove (or "debloat") unneeded code at compilation time based on specific program configurations. By trimming unnecessary functionality (such as rarely used libraries or disabled features), the remaining program is not only more efficient, but also has fewer potential vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit, and fewer instruction sequences that could be used as part of memory corruption exploits. In addition, compiler-based randomization techniques make it harder for attackers to guess a program's internal structure.
- Selective Data Protection. The project developed approaches that automatically detect critical variables (such as passwords or encryption keys) and isolate them in protected regions of memory using encryption. This isolation prevents attackers from reading or tampering with high-value data, even if they manage to compromise other parts of a program.
- System Call Filtering and Privilege Reduction. The team explored ways to limit the "attack surface" of both user applications and operating system services. New analysis tools identify exactly which system calls a program truly needs, enabling the enforcement of more restrictive policies and preventing the use of dangerous OS features. Another tool automatically reduces the powerful privileges required by legacy ("setuid") programs, dramatically lowering the risk of complete system compromise.
- Kernel Hardening. Novel kernel-level defenses protect sensitive memory-resident data structures used by the operating system for critical operations. By separating or encrypting metadata, attackers face major hurdles when attempting to gain illicit access or corrupt vital parts of the kernel.
Beyond advancing fundamental research in computer security, this project's outcomes offer clear benefits to both industry and the public. Making software harder to exploit directly enhances data privacy, protects critical infrastructure, and supports trusted online services. By publicly releasing the open-source code of the developed prototypes and sharing insights with the security community, the project facilitated wide-reaching improvements in secure software development practices. Publicly released tools include:
- CCR: compiler-rewriter cooperation framework
https://github.com/kevinkoo001/CCR - Confine: container attack surface reduction
https://github.com/shamedgh/confine - Temporal system call specialization
https://github.com/shamedgh/temporal-specialization - C2C: configuration-driven system call filtering
https://github.com/shamedgh/c2c - Selective Data Protection
https://github.com/taptipalit/selective_data_protection
https://github.com/taptipalit/dynpta - Decap: application privilege reduction
https://github.com/hasanmdme/decap - xMP: selective memory protection for kernel and user space
https://github.com/virtsec/xmp - ISLAB: kernel metadata protection
https://github.com/tum-itsec/islab - Safeslab: kernel-level protection against use-after-free attacks
https://github.com/tum-itsec/safeslab
Students and collaborators gained hands-on experience with state-of-the-art compiler technologies, kernel engineering, attack surface reduction, and virtualization-based security. This expertise is transferred into academic, governmental, and commercial settings, strengthening our collective cybersecurity posture.
In summary, the project yielded new, practical tools and frameworks for defending systems against memory-based attacks, reducing the likelihood of large-scale security breaches, and fostering the next generation of secure software systems.
Last Modified: 01/25/2025
Modified by: Michail Polychronakis
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