Automatic Error Elimination by Multi-Application Code Transfer

Abstract

We present Code Phage (CP), a system for automatically transferring correct code from donor applications into recipient applications to successfully eliminate errors in the recipient. Experimental results using six donor applications to eliminate nine errors in six recipient applications highlight the ability of CP to transfer code across applications to eliminate otherwise fatal integer and buffer over- flow errors. Because CP works with binary donors with no need for source code or symbolic information, it supports a wide range of use cases. To the best of our knowledge, CP is the first system to eliminate software errors via the successful transfer of correct code across applications.