Abstract: Disclosed are a testing framework—SETSUD ?—that uses perturbation-based exploration for robustness testing of modern scalable distributed systems. In sharp contrast to existing testing techniques and tools that are limited in that they are typically based on black-box approaches or they focus mostly on failure recovery testing, SETSUD ? is a flexible framework to exercise various perturbations to create stressful scenarios. SETSUD ? is built on an underlying instrumentation infrastructure that provides abstractions of internal states of the system as labeled entities. Both novice and advanced testers can use these labeled entities to specify scenarios of interest at the high level, in the form of a declarative style test policy. SETSUD ? automatically generates perturbation sequences and applies them to system-level implementations, without burdening the tester with low-level details.

Abstract: A network testing method implemented in a software-defined network (SDN) is disclosed. The network testing method comprising providing a test scenario including one or more network events, injecting said one or more network events to the SDN using an SDN controller, and gathering network traffic statistics. A network testing apparatus used in a software-defined network (SDN) also is disclosed. The network testing apparatus comprising a testing system to provide a test scenario including one or more network events, to inject said one or more network events to the SDN using an SDN controller, and to gather network traffic statistics. Other methods, apparatuses, and systems also are disclosed.

Abstract: Disclosed are typestate and lifetime dependency analysis methods for identifying bugs in C++ programs. Disclosed are an abstract representation (ARC++) that models C++ objects and which makes object creation/destruction, usage, lifetime and pointer operations explicit in the abstract model thereby providing a basis for static analysis on the C++ program. Also disclosed is a lifetime dependency analysis that tracks implied dependency relationships between lifetimes of objects, to capture an effective high-level abstraction for issues involving temporary objects and internal buffers, and subsequently used in the static analysis that supports typestate checking for the C++ program. Finally disclosed a framework that automatically genarates ARC++ representations from C++ programs and performs typestate checking to detect bugs that are specified as typestate automata over ARC++ representations.

Abstract: An interprocedural exception analysis and transformation framework for computer programming languages such as C++ that (1) captures the control-flow induced by exceptions precisely, and (2) transforms the given computer program into an exception-free program that is amenable for precise static analysis, verification, and optimizations.

Abstract: A computer implemented program analysis method employing a set of new abstract domains applicable to non-convex invarients. The method analyzes programs statically using abstract interpretation while advantageously considering non-convex structures and in particular those situations in which an internal region of an unreachable state exists within a larger region of reachable states. The method employs a new set of non-convex domains (donut domains) based upon the notion of an outer convex region of reachable states (Domain D1) and an inner region of unreachable states (Domain D2) which advantageously permits capture of non-convex properties by using convex regions and operations.

Abstract: A model is provided for transforming a program with a priori given class hierarchy that is induced by inheritance. An inheritance remover is configured to remove inheritance from a given program to produce an analysis-friendly program which does not include virtual-function pointer tables and runtime libraries associated with inheritance-related operations. The analysis-friendly program preserves the semantics of the given program with respect to a given class hierarchy. A clarifier is configured to identify implicit expressions and function calls and transform the given program into at least one intermediate program having explicit expressions and function calls.

Abstract: A system and method for discovering a set of possible iteration sequences for a given loop in a software program is described, to transform the loop representation. In a program containing a loop, the loop is partitioned into a plurality of portions based on splitting criteria. Labels are associated with the portions, and an initial loop automaton is constructed that represents the loop iterations as a regular language over the labels corresponding to the portions in the program. Subsequences of the labels are analyzed to determine infeasibility of the subsequences permitted in the automaton. The automaton is refined by removing all infeasible subsequences to discover a set of possible iteration sequences in the loop. The resulting loop automaton is used in a subsequent program verification or analysis technique to find violations of correctness properties in programs.

Abstract: A system and method for discovering a set of possible iteration sequences for a given loop in a software program is described, to transform the loop representation. In a program containing a loop, the loop is partitioned into a plurality of portions based on splitting criteria. Labels are associated with the portions, and an initial loop automaton is constructed that represents the loop iterations as a regular language over the labels corresponding to the portions in the program. Subsequences of the labels are analyzed to determine infeasibility of the subsequences permitted in the automaton. The automaton is refined by removing all infeasible subsequences to discover a set of possible iteration sequences in the loop. The resulting loop automaton is used in a subsequent program verification or analysis technique to find violations of correctness properties in programs.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed to verify a program by symbolically enumerating path programs; verifying each path program to determine if the path program is correct or leads to a violation of a correctness property; determining a conflict set from the path program if the path program is proved correct; using the conflict set to avoid enumerating other related path programs that are also correct.

Abstract: A system and method for infeasible path detection includes performing a static analysis on a program to prove a property of the program. If the property is not proved, infeasible paths in the program are determined by performing a path-insensitive abstract interpretation. Information about such infeasible paths is used to achieve the effects of path-sensitivity in path-insensitive program analysis.

Abstract: A computer implemented program analysis method employing a set of new abstract domains applicable to non-convex invarients. The method analyzes programs statically using abstract interpretation while advantageously considering non-convex structures and in particular those situations in which an internal region of an unreachable state exists within a larger region of reachable states. The method employs a new set of non-convex domains (donut domains) based upon the notion of an outer convex region of reachable states (Domain D1) and an inner region of unreachable states (Domain D2) which advantageously permits capture of non-convex properties by using convex regions and operations.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for analyzing a computer software program comprising both C++ and C string components, wherein the method includes building a memory model abstraction of any memory used by the program strings. Various memory models are presented that find invalid memory accesses in terms of validity of memory regions and buffer overflows. The model supports analyzing the interaction of C and C++ components—in particular, it focuses on the interaction of C and C++ strings. The conversion of C++ strings to C strings is accomplished through a non-transferable ownership attribute that is to be respected by the C strings. The models can then be analyzed using static analysis techniques such as abstract interpretation and model checking, or through dynamic analysis. In so doing we allow discovery of potential memory safety violations in programs involving conversions between C and C++ strings.

Abstract: A model is provided for transforming a program with a priori given class hierarchy that is induced by inheritance. An inheritance remover is configured to remove inheritance from a given program to produce an analysis-friendly program which does not include virtual-function pointer tables and runtime libraries associated with inheritance-related operations. The analysis-friendly program preserves the semantics of the given program with respect to a given class hierarchy. A clarifier is configured to identify implicit expressions and function calls and transform the given program into at least one intermediate program having explicit expressions and function calls.

Abstract: An interprocedural exception analysis and transformation framework for computer programming languages such as C++ that (1) captures the control-flow induced by exceptions precisely, and (2) transforms the given computer program into an exception-free program that is amenable for precise static analysis, verification, and optimizations.

Abstract: A system and method for discovering a set of possible iteration sequences for a given loop in a software program is described, to transform the loop representation. In a program containing a loop, the loop is partitioned into a plurality of portions based on splitting criteria. Labels are associated with the portions, and an initial loop automaton is constructed that represents the loop iterations as a regular language over the labels corresponding to the portions in the program. Subsequences of the labels are analyzed to determine infeasibility of the subsequences permitted in the automaton. The automaton is refined by removing all infeasible subsequences to discover a set of possible iteration sequences in the loop. The resulting loop automaton is used in a subsequent program verification or analysis technique to find violations of correctness properties in programs.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed to verify a program by symbolically enumerating path programs; verifying each path program to determine if the path program is correct or leads to a violation of a correctness property; determining a conflict set from the path program if the path program is proved correct; using the conflict set to avoid enumerating other related path programs that are also correct.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for performing error diagnosis of software errors in a program by from one or more error traces, building a repair program containing one or more modified program semantics corresponding to fixes to observed errors; encoding the repair program with constraints, biases and priortization into a constraint weighted problem; and solving the constraint weighted problem to generate one or more repair solutions, wherein the encoding includes at least one of: a) constraining one or more repairs choices guided by automatically inferring one or more partial specifications of intended program behaviors and program structure; b) biasing one or more repair choices guided by typical programming mistakes; and c) prioritizing the repair solutions based on error locations and possible changes in program semantics.

Abstract: A system and method for infeasible path detection includes performing a static analysis on a program to prove a property of the program. If the property is not proved, infeasible paths in the program are determined by performing a path-insensitive abstract interpretation. Information about such infeasible paths is used to achieve the effects of path-sensitivity in path-insensitive program analysis.