Events Calendar

PhD Thesis Proposal - Alan Romano

PhD Thesis Proposal - Alan Romano

Committee Members: Weihang Wang (chair), William Halfond, Nenad Medvidovic, Pierluigi Nuzzo, Chao Wang

Title: WAF: A Multi Purpose Static Program Analysis Framework for WebAssembly

Abstract: WebAssembly is a recent standard for the web that aims to enable high performance web applications that can run at near native speeds. The standard has gained attention in both academia and industry for its ability to speed up existing user facing web applications. However, we have encountered several limitations in the static program analysis tools of the current WebAssembly ecosystem. We find that current program optimizations applied on WebAssembly modules may lead to diminished performance. We also identify a lack of tools that help developers understand WebAssembly modules through robust binary decompilation. Finally, we find a gap in the ability to analyze cross language WebAssembly applications across the two languages they are typically implemented in, i.e., WebAssembly and JavaScript.

In this thesis, we present a novel WebAssembly Analysis Framework, or WAF. WAF is a static program analysis framework for WebAssembly modules that consists of multiple intermediate representations. Inspired by frameworks made for Java, the core of our framework lies in our three intermediate representations that each model the WebAssembly module at a different semantic level. This structure enables WAF to serve in multiple use cases, including program optimizations, binary decompilation, cross language program analysis, and malware detection. We aim to show that our framework can improve static program analysis in the areas that the WebAssembly ecosystem is lacking

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Melissa Ochoa

Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98399405992?pwd=ME1ENk9QL2V1bmdXZld2K0psV2p6Zz09