Systems and methods for defeating stack-based cyber attacks by randomizing stack frame size
US11853412B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 15, 2019 |
| Grant date | Dec 26, 2023 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 26, 2039 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2221/033
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Systems and methods of defending against stack-based cybersecurity attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in buffer overflows. The embodiments disclosed herein propose applying a randomized modification to the original size of the stack frames of functions of a program. By applying a randomized modification to the length of the stack frame, e.g., randomly increasing the length of the allocated stack frame memory, it becomes harder (if not impossible) for the attacker to guess or estimate the memory location where the return address of a function is stored, regardless of the attacker's knowledge of the length of the stack frame. Multiple implementations, e.g., randomizations at transform time, load time, and run time are discussed herein.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.