Re: Hardening via random code generator (was: [perl #74764] -E 'given( goto f ) { f: }' => crash)

On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 10:04:13AM +0100, Tim Bunce wrote:
> > The following code crashes perl:
> > 
> >         % perl5.12.0 -E 'given ( goto f ) { f: }'
> >         Use of "goto" to jump into a construct is deprecated at -e line 1.
> >         perl5.12.0: pp_ctl.c:4005: Perl_pp_leavegiven: Assertion `((cx)->cx_u.cx_subst.sbu_type & 0xf) == 3' failed.
> >         zsh: abort      /opt/perl/perl-5.12.0-RC3/bin/perl5.12.0 -E 'given ( goto f ) { f: }
> 
> This report triggers vague memories of a tool (not perl related) that
> generated random code fragments in an attempt to find flaws in a
> compiler or cpu (I forget which now). Ring a bell for anyone?

ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/paradyn/technical_papers/fuzz-revisited.ps

Fuzz Revisited: A Re-examination of the Reliability of UNIX Utilities and
Services.

I believe that Ilya Z also did something related by using Markov chains to
feed plausible garbage to the perl interpreter, identifying the cause of
the crashes, and then patching the bugs.

Nicholas Clark

• Hardening via random code generator (was: [perl #74764] -E 'given(goto f ) { f: }' => crash) by Tim Bunce
• Re: Hardening via random code generator (was: [perl #74764] -E 'given( goto f ) { f: }' => crash) by Nicholas Clark