Automatic Detection and Repair Recommendation for Missing Checks

Abstract

Missing checks for untrusted inputs used in security-sensitive operations is one of the major causes of various vulnerabilities. Efficiently detecting and repairing missing checks are essential for prognosticating potential vulnerabilities and improving code reliability. We propose a systematic static analysis approach to detect missing checks for manipulable data used in security-sensitive operations of C/C++ programs and recommend repair references. First, customized securitysensitive operations are located by lightweight static analysis. Then, the assailability of sensitive data used in securitysensitive operations is determined via taint analysis. And, the existence and the risk degree of missing checks are assessed. Finally, the repair references for high-risk missing checks are recommended. We implemented the approach into an automated and cross-platform tool named Vanguard based on Clang/LLVM 3.6.0. Large-scale experimental evaluation on open-source projects has shown its effectiveness and efficiency. Furthermore, Vanguard has helped us uncover five known vulnerabilities and 12 new bugs.