An event-based language for dynamic binary translation frameworks

Abstract

Dynamic binary translation (DBT) frameworks such as DynamoRIO [1] or Granary apply just-in-time rewriting techniques to allow pervasive instrumentation of a target program, for applications such as instruction-level profiling or watchpoints. This is a powerful approach, but analysis tools based on DBT frameworks are difficult to develop. Client modules written using a DBT framework must specify the instrumentation to perform on each basic block of the target program, and make use of explicit synchronization when aggregating data from multiple threads of a program. This can result in hundreds of lines of code for even simple analysis tools.