Next Generation Virtualization-Based Obfuscators

Explore the cutting-edge world of code obfuscation in this 59-minute conference talk from the Hack In The Box Security Conference. Delve into an overview of contemporary code obfuscation schemes, focusing on the design and architecture of virtual machines. Examine the weaknesses of established approaches, including their reliance on fixed instruction set architectures and weak obfuscation of individual components. Learn about various deobfuscation attacks such as compiler optimizations, symbolic execution, and program synthesis, and understand how they can efficiently deobfuscate VM components and reconstruct protected code. Discover the core design principles behind next-generation virtual machines and how they aim to counter these attacks. Investigate concrete methods for generating target-specific instruction set architectures and intertwined VM components, and understand their synergistic effects in withstanding specific attacks. Gain insights into how these techniques will shape the landscape of modern obfuscation in the coming years and the necessary advancements in code deobfuscation research to tackle these advanced virtual machines.

#HITB2023AMS D1T2 - Next Generation Virtualization-Based Obfuscators - T. Blazytko & M. Schloegel