BinHunt: Automatically finding semantic differences in binary programs

Abstract

We introduce BinHunt, a novel technique for finding semantic differences in binary programs. Semantic differences between two binary files contrast with syntactic differences in that semantic differences correspond to changes in the program functionality. Semantic differences are difficult to find because of the noise from syntactic differences caused by, e.g., different register allocation and basic block re-ordering. BinHunt bases its analysis on the control flow of the programs using a new graph isomorphism technique, symbolic execution, and theorem proving. We implement a system based on BinHunt and demonstrate the application of the system with three case studies in which BinHunt manages to identify the semantic differences between an executable and its patched version, revealing the vulnerability that the patch eliminates. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.