A Review Of Fuzzing Tools And Methods

This paper reviews fuzzing and its context within the field of information security research. We firstly examine how vulnerabilities come to exist in software and how security researchers find them. After a brief overview of common vulnerability types and methods of static analysis, we look in more depth at the field of fuzzing. Competing approaches to fuzzing are examined, from simple random inputs all the way to using genetic algorithms and taint analysis. The importance of measuring code coverage to evaluate the completeness of a fuzzing campaign is examined. Finally, previous work on fuzz testing of web browsers is reviewed.