%0 Conference Paper
%B 1st Workshop on Architectural and Microarchitectural Support for Binary Translation
%D 2008
%T Impact of Dynamic Binary Translators on Security
%A Chen, Yu-Yuan
%A Wu, Youfeng
%A Hu, Shiliang
%A Lee, Ruby
%C Beijing, China
%X Dynamic Binary Translators (DBTs) allow programs written for a specific platform to be run on other platforms without the need for recompilation. They allow legacy software to be run on newer hardware architectures, they can perform dynamic optimization of software, and virtualization. Other benefits include providing enhanced security by dynamically adding checking code around possible software security vulnerabilities. However, before this is even considered, there are two aspects of DBTs that must first be addressed. First, are software protections provided by the application preserved under the runtime translation and optimizations done by a DBT? Will they be optimized out? We study a range of software protection techniques including Stackshield, Propolice and Stackguard, Libsafe, address space randomization, checksumming, watermarking, system call sandboxing, authenticated system calls, code obsfucation and morphing, anti-debugging, instruction-set randomization, and proof carrying code. Second, how is the DBT itself protected? How is its code cache protected? Without adequate protection, a DBT can be exploited by an attacker to cause disastrous system consequences. We propose three solutions. One solution adds a small set of hardware features to the microprocessor, as defined by the Secret Protection (SP) architecture, to protect the DBT and its code cache.
%8 21/06/2008