REASSURE: A self-contained mechanism for healing software using rescue points

Georgios Portokalidis, Angelos D. Keromytis

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Software errors are frequently responsible for the limited availability of Internet Services, loss of data, and many security compromises. Self-healing using rescue points (RPs) is a mechanism that can be used to recover software from unforeseen errors until a more permanent remedy, like a patch or update, is available. We present REASSURE, a self-contained mechanism for recovering from such errors using RPs. Essentially, RPs are existing code locations that handle certain anticipated errors in the target application, usually by returning an error code. REASSURE enables the use of these locations to also handle unexpected faults. This is achieved by rolling back execution to a RP when a fault occurs, returning a valid error code, and enabling the application to gracefully handle the unexpected error itself. REASSURE can be applied on already running applications, while disabling and removing it is equally facile. We tested REASSURE with various applications, including the MySQL and Apache servers, and show that it allows them to successfully recover from errors, while incurring moderate overhead between 1% and 115%. We also show that even under very adverse conditions, like their continuous bombardment with errors, REASSURE protected applications remain operational.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Information and Computer Security - 6th International Workshop, IWSEC 2011, Proceedings
Pages16-32
Number of pages17
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Event6th International Workshop on Security, IWSEC 2011 - Tokyo, Japan
Duration: 8 Nov 201110 Nov 2011

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume7038 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference6th International Workshop on Security, IWSEC 2011
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityTokyo
Period8/11/1110/11/11

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