DISTRIBUTED STATIC ANALYSIS OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS

• US 20120192161A1
• Filed: 01/25/2011
• Published: 07/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: PISTOIA, Marco, Tripp, Omer, Weisman, Omri
• Granted Patent: US 8,856,764 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3604 Software analysis for verifying properties of programs byte-code verification G06F9/44589
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/75 Structural analysis for program understanding

Abstract

A method for distributed static analysis of computer software applications, includes: statically analyzing instructions of a computer software application; identifying at least one entry point in the computer software application; assigning a primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point; assigning a secondary agent to statically analyze a call site encountered by the primary agent and produce a static analysis summary of the call site; and presenting results of any of the static analyses via a computer-controlled output device.

Claims

1. A method for distributed static analysis of computer software applications, the method comprising:

statically analyzing instructions of a computer software application;

identifying at least one entry point in the computer software application;

assigning a primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point;

assigning a secondary agent to statically analyze a call site encountered by the primary agent and produce a static analysis summary of the call site; and

presenting results of any of the static analyses via a computer-controlled output device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point comprises:

checking whether the static analysis summary of the call site exists;

statically analyzing the computer software application from the entry point using the static analysis summary of the call site if the static analysis summary of the call site exists; and

if the static analysis summary of the call site does not exist,

suspending the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the computer software application,

issuing a request for the static analysis summary of the call site, and

resuming the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the computer software application using the requested static analysis summary after the requested static analysis summary is produced.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point comprises:

assigning a plurality of primary agents to statically analyze the computer software application from a plurality of entry points of the computer software application,

wherein each of the plurality of primary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of entry points, and

wherein the plurality of primary agents operate concurrently.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point comprises:

assigning the primary agent from a pool and returning the primary agent to the pool once the primary agent completes the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the primary agent'"'"'s assigned entry point.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site comprises:

assigning a plurality of secondary agents to statically analyze a plurality of call sites and produce a corresponding plurality of static analysis summaries,

wherein each of the plurality of secondary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of call sites, and

wherein the plurality of secondary agents operate concurrently.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site comprises:

assigning the secondary agent from a pool and returning the secondary agent to the pool once the secondary agent completes the secondary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the secondary agent'"'"'s assigned call site.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point comprises assigning a plurality of primary agents to statically analyze the computer software application from a plurality of entry points of the computer software application,

wherein the assigning the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site comprises assigning a plurality of secondary agents to statically analyze a plurality of call sites and produce a corresponding plurality of static analysis summaries,

wherein each of the plurality of primary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of entry points,

wherein each of the plurality of secondary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of call sites, and

wherein the plurality of primary agents and secondary agents operate concurrently.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying an abstraction for each argument required by the call site; and

producing the static analysis summary of the call site with respect to the each specified abstraction.

9. A computer program product for distributed static analysis of computer software applications, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium; and

computer-readable program code embodied in the computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable program code is configured to;

statically analyze instructions of a computer software application,

identify at least one entry point in the computer software application,

assign a primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point,

assign a secondary agent to statically analyze a call site encountered by the primary agent and produce a static analysis summary of the call site, and

present results of any of the static analyses via a computer-controlled output device.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application form the entry point is further configured to:

check whether the static analysis summary of the call site exists;

statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point using the static analysis summary of the call site if the static analysis summary of the call site exists; and

if the static analysis summary of the call site does not exist,

suspend the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the computer software application,

issue a request for the static analysis summary of the call site, and

resume the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the computer software application using the requested static analysis summary after the requested static analysis summary is produced.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the primary agent is a computer process that is executed by either a single computer processor or a single core of a multi-core computer processor.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point is further configured to:

assign a plurality of primary agents to statically analyze the computer software application from a plurality of entry points of the computer software application,

wherein each of the plurality of primary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of entry points, and

wherein the plurality of primary agents operate concurrently.

13. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point is further configured to:

assign the primary agent from a pool and returning the primary agent to the pool once the primary agent completes the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the primary agent'"'"'s assigned entry point.

14. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the secondary agent is a computer process that is executed by either a single computer processor or a single core of a multi-core computer processor.

15. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site is further configured to:

assign a plurality of secondary agents to statically analyze a plurality of call sites and produce a corresponding plurality of static analysis summaries,

wherein each of the plurality of secondary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of call sites, and

wherein the plurality of secondary agents operate concurrently.

16. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site is further configured to:

assign the secondary agent from a pool and returning the secondary agent to the pool once the secondary agent completes the secondary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the secondary agent'"'"'s assigned call site.

17. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point is further configured to assign a plurality of primary agents to statically analyze the computer software application from a plurality of entry points of the computer software application,

wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site is further configured to assign a plurality of secondary agents to statically analyze a plurality of call sites and produce a corresponding plurality of static analysis summaries,

wherein each of the plurality of primary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of entry points,

wherein each of the plurality of secondary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of call sites, and

wherein the plurality of primary agents and secondary agents operate concurrently.

18. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the computer-readable program code is further configured to:

specify an abstraction for each argument required by the call site, and

produce the static analysis summary with respect to the each specified abstraction.

19. A system for distributed static analysis of computer software applications, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-readable program code embodied in the computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable program code is configured to;

statically analyze instructions of a computer software application;

identify at least one entry point in the computer software application;

assign a primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point;

assign a secondary agent to statically analyze a call site encountered by the primary agent and produce a static analysis summary of the call site; and

present results of any of the static analyses via a computer-controlled output device.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign a primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point is further configured to:

check whether the static analysis summary exists of the call site;

statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point using the static analysis summary of the call site if the static analysis summary of the call site exists; and

if the static analysis summary of the call site does not exist,

suspend the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis of the computer software application,

issue the request for a static analysis summary of the call site, and

resume the primary agent'"'"'s static analysis summary of the computer software application using the requested static analysis after the requested static analysis summary is produced.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the entry point is an interaction interface exposed by the computer software application to a source of interaction that is external to the computer software application.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point is further configured to:

assign a plurality of primary agents to statically analyze the computer software application from a plurality of entry points of the computer software application,

wherein each of the plurality of primary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of entry points,

wherein the plurality of primary agents operate concurrently, and

wherein each of the primary agents are executed by a different computer processor or computer processor core.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the call site is a reference to any of a method, a procedure, and a function that is external to a method, procedure, or function where the call site is found within the computer software application.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site assign is further configured to:

assign a plurality of secondary agents to statically analyze a plurality of call sites and produce a corresponding plurality of static analysis summaries,

wherein each of the plurality of secondary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of call sites,

wherein the plurality of secondary agents operate concurrently, and

wherein each of the secondary agents are executed by a different computer processor or computer processor core.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the primary agent to statically analyze the computer software application from the entry point is further configured to assign a plurality of primary agents to statically analyze the computer software application from a plurality of entry points of the computer software application,

wherein the computer-readable program code configured to assign the secondary agent to statically analyze the call site encountered by the primary agent and produce the static analysis summary of the call site assign is further configured to assign a plurality of secondary agents to statically analyze a plurality of call sites and produce a corresponding plurality of static analysis summaries,

wherein each of the plurality of primary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of entry points,

wherein each of the plurality of secondary agents statically analyzes a different one of the plurality of call sites,

wherein the plurality of primary agents and secondary agents operate concurrently, and

wherein each of the primary agents and secondary agents are executed by a different computer processor or computer processor core.