Method for obfuscation of code using return oriented programming

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relates to utilization of Return Oriented Programming (ROP) for a non-malicious purpose i.e. code obfuscation to improve security. Program code that is associated with a designated function of sensitive nature may be hidden by creating a ROP code that performs the designated function of the original (unobsfuscated) code and constructing a ROP payload that can be loaded to execute the ROP code. The original code may be replaced by a spurious code unrelated to the designated function, and a control flow instruction is provided to load the ROP payload to execute the ROP code.

Description

Technical field [0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to code protection, and more specifically, apply Return Oriented Programming (ROP) to obfuscate the code and for non-malicious purposes. Background technique [0002] Obfuscation is an important technique to protect algorithms and codes from disclosure. Application developers often use this technology to protect vital algorithms in the program, making the source code and machine code of the program difficult to understand. [0003] An existing obfuscation technique involves increasing the difficulty of splitting the program code so that only a small part of the program code will be split. Another existing obfuscation technique involves applying encryption to selected instructions so that encrypted instructions can only be disclosed with a key. [0004] However, these existing obfuscation techniques can cause limitations. Using the first technique, the code analyzer will realize that only a small part of the program...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0004] However, these existing obfuscation techniques pose limitations

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