Automatic Error Elimination by Multi-Application Code Transfer

Abstract

We present pDNA, a system for automatically transfer- ring 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 pDNA to transfer code across applications to eliminate otherwise fatal integer and buffer overflow errors. Because pDNA 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, pDNA is the first system to eliminate software errors via the successful transfer of correct code across applications.