DeepGo: Predictive Directed Greybox Fuzzing
Peihong Lin, Pengfei Wang, Xu Zhou, Wei Xie, Gen Zhang, Kai Lu
Abstract
The state-of-the-art DGF techniques redefine and optimize the fitness metric to reach the target sites precisely and quickly. However, optimizations for fitness metrics are mainly based on heuristic algorithms, which usually rely on historical execution information and lack foresight on paths that have not been exercised yet. Thus, those hard-to-execute paths with complex constraints would hinder DGF from reaching the targets, making DGF less efficient. In this paper, we propose DeepGo, a predictive directed grey-box fuzzer that can combine historical and predicted information to steer DGF to reach the target site via an optimal path. We first propose the path transition model, which models DGF as a process of reaching the target site through specific path transition sequences. The new seed generated by mutation would cause the path transition, and the path corresponding to the high-reward path transition sequence indicates a high likelihood of reaching the target site through it. Then, to predict the path transitions and the corresponding rewards, we use deep neural networks to construct a Virtual Ensemble Environment (VEE), which gradually imitates the path transition model and predicts the rewards of path transitions that have not been taken yet. To determine the optimal path, we develop a Reinforcement Learning for Fuzzing (RLF) model to generate the transition sequences with the highest sequence rewards. The RLF model can combine historical and predicted path transitions to generate the optimal path transition sequences, along with the policy to guide the mutation strategy of fuzzing. Finally, to exercise the high-reward path transition sequence, we propose the concept of an action group, which comprehensively optimizes the critical steps of fuzzing to realize the optimal path to reach the target efficiently.
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Cited by top-tier papers2
- IDFuzz: Intelligent Directed Grey-box FuzzingYiyang Chen, Chao Zhang, Long Wang, Wenyu Zhu et al.USENIX Security 2025
- ICSQuartz: Scan Cycle-Aware and Vendor-Agnostic Fuzzing for Industrial Control SystemsCorban Villa, Constantine Doumanidis, Hithem Lamri, Prashant Hari Narayan Rajput et al.NDSS 2025
Builds on38
- Coverage-based Greybox Fuzzing as Markov ChainMarcel Böhme, Van-Thuan Pham, Abhik RoychoudhuryCCS 2016 · 1,026 citations
- Driller: Augmenting Fuzzing Through Selective Symbolic ExecutionNick Stephens, John Grosen, Christopher Salls, Andrew Dutcher et al.NDSS 2016 · 1,021 citations
- Directed Greybox FuzzingMarcel Böhme, Van-Thuan Pham, Manh-Dung Nguyen, Abhik RoychoudhuryCCS 2017 · 836 citations
- Angora: Efficient Fuzzing by Principled SearchPeng Chen, Hao ChenS&P 2018 · 616 citations
- QSYM : A Practical Concolic Execution Engine Tailored for Hybrid FuzzingInsu Yun, Sangho Lee, Meng Xu, Yeongjin Jang et al.USENIX Security 2018 · 537 citations
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