Publication Details
Advanced Static Analysis for Decompilation Using Scattered Context Grammars
Křoustek Jakub, Ing., Ph.D.
Zemek Petr, Ing., Ph.D.
Kolář Dušan, doc. Dr. Ing. (DIFS)
Hruška Tomáš, prof. Ing., CSc. (DIFS)
Masařík Karel, Ing., Ph.D. (CM-SDE)
Meduna Alexandr, prof. RNDr., CSc. (DIFS)
decompilation, Lissom, static analysis, LLVM IR, scattered context grammars
Reverse program compilation (i.e. decompilation) is a process heavily exploited in reverse engineering. The task of decompilation is to transform a platform-specific executable into a high-level language representation, which is usually the C language. Such a process can be used for source code reconstruction, compiler testing, malware analysis, etc. In present, there are several existing decompilers that are able to decompile simple applications. However, we can see a drop-off in terms of the quality of the generated code when the decompiled code is highly optimized (e.g. usage of instruction idioms) or obfuscated (e.g. dead code insertion, register renaming). Optimized or obfuscated applications are usually generated by highly optimizing compilers or metamorphic engines (used by malware authors). In this paper, we present several innovative decompilation methods based on scattered context grammars. These methods are able to effectively decompile optimized or obfuscated code. For demonstration, we used these methods for enhancement of the static analysis phase of an existing decompiler. Experimental results of our solution are presented at the end of the paper.
@inproceedings{BUT76457,
author="Lukáš {Ďurfina} and Jakub {Křoustek} and Petr {Zemek} and Dušan {Kolář} and Tomáš {Hruška} and Karel {Masařík} and Alexandr {Meduna}",
title="Advanced Static Analysis for Decompilation Using Scattered Context Grammars",
booktitle="Proceedings of the Applied Computing Conference 2011 (ACC'11)",
year="2011",
pages="164--169",
publisher="World Scientific and Engineering Academy",
address="Angers",
isbn="978-1-61804-051-0"
}