Find your first bug in C/C++

This quick start guide intendeds to teach you the basics of using cifuzz with a C/C++ project. cifuzz directly supports CMake and Bazel, but you can also configure it to work with other build systems such as Make.

This guide was created using Ubuntu 20.04 x64. If you are on MacOS or Windows, you should be able to follow along without any issues.

If you haven't yet installed cifuzz, then first head to the installation section

CMake

1.Set up the repository

Download or clone the following repository: https://github.com/CodeIntelligenceTesting/ci-fuzz-cli-tutorials. This repository contains several projects. For this guide, you need to use the project in the c_cpp/cmake directory.

note

Try to run all cifuzz commands listed in this section from the c_cpp/cmake directory.

2.Initialize the project

The first step for any project is to initialize it. To do so create a configuration file, cifuzz.yaml, in the project directory and modify your top level CMakeLists.txt file. Now run the following command:

cifuzz init

When you run cifuzz init it recognizes the project as a CMake project and provides two commands that you have to add to CMakeLists.txt:

find_package(cifuzz NO_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH) - finds and loads the cifuzz package for use when building the project.
enable_fuzz_testing() - enables integration between cifuzz and CMake

note

You need to add these commands before any add_library or add_executable directives, otherwise the targets aren't compiled with the correct instrumentation/build flags.

Add the two CMake commands to CMakeLists.txt. After editing CMakeLists.txt, it should look something like this:

CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
project(cmake_example)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

enable_testing()

find_package(cifuzz NO_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH)
enable_fuzz_testing()

add_subdirectory(src)

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} main.cpp )
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE exploreMe)

3.Create a fuzz test

The next step is to create a c++ fuzz test template. With one of the main goals of cifuzz being to make fuzz testing as easy as unit testing, you place the fuzz test in the test directory, exactly as you would a standard unit test. Run the following command:

cifuzz create cpp -o test/my_fuzz_test.cpp

If you open test/my_fuzz_test.cpp, you should see a fuzz test template.

After creating your fuzz test, you need to add the add_fuzz_test and target_link_libraries commands to your CMakeLists.txt file so CMake can find, build, and link your fuzz test. After adding these two commands, your CMakeLists.txt should look like:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
project(cmake_example)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

enable_testing()

find_package(cifuzz NO_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_PATH)
enable_fuzz_testing()

add_subdirectory(src)

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} main.cpp )
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE exploreMe)

add_fuzz_test(my_fuzz_test test/my_fuzz_test.cpp)
target_link_libraries(my_fuzz_test PRIVATE exploreMe)

Before you write the fuzz test, take a look at the target function that you want to fuzz. Find it in src/explore_me.cpp:

void exploreMe(int a, int b, string c) {
  if (a >= 20000) {
    if (b >= 2000000) {
      if (b - a < 100000) {
        if (c == "FUZZING") {
          // Trigger a heap buffer overflow
          char *s = (char *)malloc(1);
          strcpy(s, "too long");
          printf("%s\n", s);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The main parts to focus on here is the parameters that the exploreMe function requires, int a, int b, string c. As long as you can pass the correct data types to the function, the fuzzer takes care of the rest.

Now you write the fuzz test. You can write or copy/paste the following into test/my_fuzz_test.cpp:

#include "../src/explore_me.h"
#include <cifuzz/cifuzz.h>
#include <fuzzer/FuzzedDataProvider.h>

FUZZ_TEST_SETUP() {}

FUZZ_TEST(const uint8_t *data, size_t size) {

  FuzzedDataProvider fuzzed_data(data, size);
  int a = fuzzed_data.ConsumeIntegral<int>();
  int b = fuzzed_data.ConsumeIntegral<int>();
  std::string c = fuzzed_data.ConsumeRandomLengthString();

  exploreMe(a, b, c);
}

A few notes about this fuzz test:

The fuzz test must include the header for the target function ../src/explore_me.h and cifuzz <cifuzz/cifuzz.h>
This fuzz test uses the FuzzedDataProvider from LLVM. This isn't required, but it's a convenient way to split the fuzzing input in the data variable into different data types. Here is a link to the FuzzedDataProvider header file if you want to view it's other methods.
Once you have created the appropriate variables a, b, and c using data from the fuzzer, the fuzz test then calls the target function exploreMe with the fuzz data.

4.Run the fuzz test

You have successfully set up the repository, initialized your project, added all necessary configuration and created the fuzz test. Now run the fuzz test using:

cifuzz run my_fuzz_test

After a moment you should receive the notification that cifuzz discovered a heap buffer overflow. Here is a snippet of the output:

<snip>
💥 [nifty_lemming] heap buffer overflow in exploreMe (src/explore_me.cpp:14:11)
<snip>

5.Examine the findings

When cifuzz discovers a finding, it stores the output from the finding and the input that caused it. You can list all findings discovered so far by running cifuzz findings. If you want to see the details of a specific finding just provide it's name, for example cifuzz finding nifty_lemming. This provides the stack trace and other details about the finding that helps you debug and fix the issue. Examining the output from cifuzz finding nifty_lemming below shows that there was a WRITE of size 9 and this triggers at line 14 in the exploreMe function.

<snip>
  ==1==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow on address 0x602000d95838 at pc 0x000000523dea bp 0x7fff5cf6f100 sp 0x7fff5cf6e8c8
  WRITE of size 9 at 0x602000d95838 thread T0
      #0 0x523de9 in __asan_memcpy (/home/demo/repos/quick-start/c_cpp/cmake/.cifuzz-build/libfuzzer/address+undefined/my_fuzz_test+0x523de9)
      #1 0x559763 in exploreMe(int, int, std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> >) /home/demo/repos/quick-start/c_cpp/cmake/src/explore_me.cpp:14:11
<snip>

If you examine lines 13 and 14 in src/explore_me.cpp, you can see this is where a strcpy call attempts to copy too many bytes to the buffer.

cifuzz also stores the crashing input in a directory named <name_of_fuzz_test>_inputs. That would be my_fuzz_test_inputs in this example. The crashing input has the same name as the finding. Findings in this directory serve as inputs for future runs to help identify regressions.

Bazel

1.Set up the repository

note

Try to run all cifuzz commands listed in this section from the c_cpp/bazel directory.

2.Initialize the project

The first step for any project is to initialize it. To do so create a configuration file, cifuzz.yaml, in the project directory and modify your top level WORKSPACE file. Run the following command:

cifuzz init

When you run cifuzz init it recognizes the project as a Bazel project and provides the rules you need to add your WORKSPACE file. Add the following to WORKSPACE:

load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:git.bzl", "git_repository")
load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive")

http_archive(
    name = "rules_fuzzing",
    sha256 = "93353c864968596cfee046ea1ef587ff62eda90dd24d4360c70465376e507982",
    strip_prefix = "rules_fuzzing-2492fd2f37163de8e19ce85061e90a464f3e9255",
    urls = ["https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_fuzzing/archive/2492fd2f37163de8e19ce85061e90a464f3e9255.tar.gz"],
)

load("@rules_fuzzing//fuzzing:repositories.bzl", "rules_fuzzing_dependencies")

rules_fuzzing_dependencies()

load("@rules_fuzzing//fuzzing:init.bzl", "rules_fuzzing_init")

rules_fuzzing_init()

git_repository(
    name = "cifuzz",
    branch = "bazel-support",
    remote = "https://github.com/CodeIntelligenceTesting/cifuzz",
    strip_prefix = "tools/cmake/cifuzz/include/cifuzz",
)

These rules enable cifuzz to integrate directly with your Bazel project.

3.Create a fuzz test

cifuzz create cpp -o test/my_fuzz_test.cpp

If you open test/my_fuzz_test.cpp, you should see a fuzz test template.

After creating your fuzz test template, you need to define a Bazel target by adding the following to the file test/BUILD.bazel:

load("@rules_fuzzing//fuzzing:cc_defs.bzl", "cc_fuzz_test")

cc_fuzz_test(
    name = "my_fuzz_test",
    srcs = ["my_fuzz_test.cpp"],
    corpus = glob(
        ["my_fuzz_test_inputs/**"],
        allow_empty = True,
    ),
    deps = [
      "//src:explore_me",
      "@cifuzz"
    ],
)

Before you write the fuzz test, take a look at the target function that you want to fuzz. It's located in src/explore_me.cpp:

void exploreMe(int a, int b, string c) {
  if (a >= 20000) {
    if (b >= 2000000) {
      if (b - a < 100000) {
        if (c == "FUZZING") {
          // Trigger a heap buffer overflow
          char *s = (char *)malloc(1);
          strcpy(s, "too long");
          printf("%s\n", s);
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Now you write the fuzz test. You can write or copy/paste the following into test/my_fuzz_test.cpp:

#include "../src/explore_me.h"
#include <cifuzz/cifuzz.h>
#include <fuzzer/FuzzedDataProvider.h>

FUZZ_TEST_SETUP() {}

FUZZ_TEST(const uint8_t *data, size_t size) {

  FuzzedDataProvider fuzzed_data(data, size);
  int a = fuzzed_data.ConsumeIntegral<int>();
  int b = fuzzed_data.ConsumeIntegral<int>();
  std::string c = fuzzed_data.ConsumeRandomLengthString();

  exploreMe(a, b, c);
}

A few notes about this fuzz test:

The fuzz test must include the header for the target function ../src/explore_me.h and cifuzz <cifuzz/cifuzz.h>
This fuzz test uses the FuzzedDataProvider from LLVM. This isn't required, but it's a convenient way to split the fuzzing input in the data variable into different data types. Here is a link to the FuzzedDataProvider header file if you want to view it's other methods.
Once you have created the appropriate variables a, b, and c using data from the fuzzer, the fuzz test then calls the target function exploreMe with the fuzz data.

4.Run the fuzz test

You have successfully set up the repository, initialized your project, added all necessary configuration and created the fuzz test. Now run the fuzz test using:

cifuzz run test:my_fuzz_test

After a moment you should receive a notification that cifuzz discovered a heap buffer overflow. Here is a snippet of the output:

<snip>
💥 [nifty_lemming] heap buffer overflow in exploreMe (src/explore_me.cpp:14:11)
<snip>

5.Examine the findings

<snip>
  ==1==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow on address 0x60200010c631 at pc 0x55feceee57ba bp 0x7fffedca0920 sp 0x7fffedca00f0
  WRITE of size 9 at 0x60200010c631 thread T0
      #0 0x55feceee57b9 in __asan_memcpy (/home/demo/.cache/bazel/_bazel_demo/3aecbc2ad2c03b16fb4fba4e35b40215/execroot/__main__/bazel-out/k8-opt-ST-00475e028063/bin/test/my_fuzz_test_raw_+0x10e7b9) (BuildId: d6b308f8875b4621)
      #1 0x55fecef17e06 in exploreMe(int, int, std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> >) src/explore_me.cpp:14:11
<snip>

If you examine lines 13 and 14 in src/explore_me.cpp, you can see this is where a strcpy call attempts to copy too many bytes to the buffer.

Find your first bug in C/C++

CMake​

1.Set up the repository​

2.Initialize the project​

3.Create a fuzz test​

4.Run the fuzz test​

5.Examine the findings​

Bazel​

1.Set up the repository​

2.Initialize the project​

3.Create a fuzz test​

4.Run the fuzz test​

5.Examine the findings​

CMake

1.Set up the repository

2.Initialize the project

3.Create a fuzz test

4.Run the fuzz test

5.Examine the findings

Bazel

1.Set up the repository

2.Initialize the project

3.Create a fuzz test

4.Run the fuzz test

5.Examine the findings