FirVer: Concolic Testing for Systematic Validation of Firmware Binaries

Abstract

We present an infrastructure, FirVer, for systematic validation of firmware binaries. FirVer makes unique use of virtual prototyping and unit testing interfaces for effective comprehension of hardware-firmware. We used FirVer on several library functions of TianoCore, a full-featured UEFI-compatible boot firmware developed by Intel Corporation. FirVer achieved more than 90% in line and function coverages, and between 60% and 80% branch coverage. FirVer also enabled exploration of corner cases that exposed segmentation faults in many constituent functions.