Memory Integrity Techniques for Memory-Unsafe Languages: A Survey

The complexity of modern software systems, the integration of several software components, and the increasing exposure to public networks make systems more susceptible to cyber-attacks, especially those targeting memory. Memory error exploitation received worldwide attention thanks to the Morris worm in 1988 and has been around for over 30 years. As a matter of fact, attacks that involve memory safety, such as buffer overflows, are still a plague in modern software. The research in countering those kinds of attacks has gone in several directions. This work surveys memory integrity techniques developed during the last quarter century for embedded or general-purpose open-source operating systems, ranging from older mechanisms to state-of-the-art solutions. A comparison of various memory integrity techniques is presented to examine their effectiveness and technical significance. Insights into ongoing trends and developments are also provided to assess their potential impact in the foreseeable future.