A Progressive Transformer for Unifying Binary Code Embedding and Knowledge Transfer
Language model approaches have recently been integrated into binary analysis tasks, such as function similarity detection and function signature recovery. These models typically employ a two-stage training process: pre-training via Masked Language Modeling (MLM) on machine code and fine-tuning for specific tasks. While MLM helps to understand binary code structures, it ignores essential code characteristics, including control and data flow, which negatively affect model generalization. Recent work leverages domain-specific features (e.g., control flow graphs and dynamic execution traces) in transformer-based approaches to improve binary code semantic understanding. However, this approach involves complex feature engineering, a cumbersome and time-consuming process that can introduce predictive uncertainty when dealing with stripped or obfuscated code, leading to a performance drop. In this paper, we introduce ProTST, a novel transformer-based methodology for binary code embedding. ProTST employs a hierarchical training process based on a unique tree-like structure, where knowledge progressively flows from fundamental tasks at the root to more specialized tasks at the leaves. This progressive teacher-student paradigm allows the model to build upon previously learned knowledge, resulting in high-quality embeddings that can be effectively leveraged for diverse downstream binary analysis tasks. The effectiveness of ProTST is evaluated in seven binary analysis tasks, and the results show that ProTST yields an average validation score (F1 and MRR) improvement of 14.8% compared to traditional two-stage training and an average validation score of 13.4% compared to multimodal two-stage frameworks.
Thu 6 MarDisplayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change
11:00 - 12:30 | Program AnalysisResearch Papers at M-1410 Chair(s): Rrezarta Krasniqi University of North Carolina at Charlotte | ||
11:00 15mTalk | Adapting Knowledge Prompt Tuning for Enhanced Automated Program Repair Research Papers Pre-print | ||
11:15 15mTalk | A Metric for Measuring the Impact of Rare Paths on Program Coverage Research Papers | ||
11:30 15mTalk | A Progressive Transformer for Unifying Binary Code Embedding and Knowledge Transfer Research Papers Hanxiao Lu Columbia University, Hongyu Cai Purdue University, Yiming Liang Purdue University, Antonio Bianchi Purdue University, Z. Berkay Celik Purdue University | ||
11:45 15mTalk | Is This You, LLM? Recognizing AI-written Programs with Multilingual Code Stylometry Research Papers Andrea Gurioli DISI - University of Bologna, Maurizio Gabbrielli DISI - University of Bologna, Stefano Zacchiroli Télécom Paris, Polytechnic Institute of Paris Pre-print | ||
12:00 15mTalk | SpeedGen: Enhancing Code Efficiency through Large Language Model-Based Performance Optimization Research Papers Nils Purschke Technical University of Munich, Sven Kirchner Technical University of Munich, Alois Knoll Technical University of Munich | ||
12:15 15mTalk | StriCT-BJ: A String Constraint Benchmark from Real Java Programs Research Papers Chi Zhang Institute of Software at Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jian Zhang Institute of Software at Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences |