Static analysis for discovery of timing attack vulnerabilities in a computer software application
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorOmer Tripp
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Discovering timing attack vulnerabilities in a computer software application by statically analyzing instructions of a computer software application to identify multiple possible execution paths traversing any of the instructions, calculating, for each of the possible execution paths, a cost associated with the execution of the instructions traversed by the possible execution path, comparing the costs of at least two of the possible execution paths having inputs of the same size, and identifying as a timing attack vulnerability any of the compared possible execution paths whose cost differs, by at least a predetermined amount, from the cost of any other of the compared possible execution paths.
Claims8
A method for discovering timing attack vulnerabilities in a computer software application, the method comprising:
- statically analyzing instructions of a computer software application to identify a plurality of possible execution paths traversing any of the instructions;
- calculating, for each of the possible execution paths, a cost associated with the execution of the instructions traversed by the possible execution path;
- comparing the costs of at least two of the possible execution paths having inputs of the same size;
- and
- identifying as a timing attack vulnerability any of the compared possible execution paths whose cost differs, by at least a predetermined amount, from the cost of any other of the compared possible execution paths.
8-20. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.