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Call for Papers: The Workshop on Binary Analysis Research (BAR) 2023

With the analysis of binary code more relevant than ever due to the proliferation of interconnected embedded devices, closed-source commercial and legacy software, and evasive malware and cyber-threats, the field of binary analysis has recently undergone a renaissance. The last decade has seen the emergence of well over a dozen binary analysis frameworks, leaving our world with more mature binary analysis platforms today than there are web browsers! Academic research groups, government and industrial labs, and independent researchers around the globe continue to push the envelope of binary analysis. Yet, this binary analysis gold rush has evolved in a largely uncoordinated manner, leaving much of our community unconnected and working alone in isolation.

The Binary Analysis Research Workshop (BAR) aims to create a space for the binary analysis research community to interact, foster collaboration, and present their cutting-edge works — with half of the workshop dedicated to traditional paper sessions and the other half to a roundtable discussion among binary analysis researchers, developers, and practitioners. To this end, we welcome submissions on all aspects of binary analysis, including: security, reverse engineering, visualization, AI and ML, theory, human factors, gamification, tool development, and transition-to-practice.

Areas of Interest

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Building blocks of binary analysis (program slicing, taint tracking, summarization, binary rewriting, formal methods).
  • Automated binary hardening (against vulnerabilities and against analysis).
  • Binary analysis to assist humans (visualization, UI/UX design).
  • Human assistance to binary analysis (i.e., human-assisted cyber reasoning systems).
  • Modeling and discovering non-memory-corruption vulnerabilities (information leaks, side-channels).
  • Automated exploitation.
  • Data exchange and sharing between binary analysis platforms.
  • Fundamental capabilities (root-cause analysis).
  • Non-trivial targets (real-world binaries, embedded devices, beyond binary code).
  • Binary analysis for CTF competitions.
  • Artificial intelligence, machine learning and binary analysis.
  • Environment modeling for binary analysis.
  • Transition from research prototype to industry-grade tool (and practical problems thereof).
  • Improving the scalability of automated binary analysis techniques.
  • Interaction and integration of tools.
  • Bytecode analysis (including Java/DEX bytecode).
  • Reports of and lessons-learned from applying previous approaches or replicating published papers.

Submission Instructions

All papers must be written in English. Papers must be formatted for US letter size (not A4) paper in a two-column layout, with columns no more than 9.25 in. high and 3.5 in. wide. The text must be in Times font, 10-point or larger, with 11-point or larger line spacing. Authors are strongly encouraged to use the templates provided by NDSS.

We invite both full papers and short papers. Full papers should have no more than 10 pages in total (excluding references and appendices). Short papers must have less than 6 pages (again, excluding references and appendices), and can discuss work-in-progress and novel ideas. Short papers will be selected based on their potential to spark interesting discussions during the workshop.

Submissions must be properly anonymized for double-blind review (please follow NDSS guidelines on paper anonymization).

Submission site: https://bar2023.hotcrp.com/

Important Dates

  • Paper submission: January 10, 2023 January 3, 2023 11:59PM Anywhere-on-Earth (AOE)
  • Acceptance notification: February 6, 2023
  • Camera-ready deadline: March 15, 2023 (post workshop)
  • Workshop date: March 3, 2023 (co-located with NDSS 2023)

Workshop Format

BAR will be co-located with NDSS 2023. BAR will be an on-site event.

One author of each accepted paper is expected to present the paper at the workshop. The format will be traditional conference-style research presentations with questions from the audience. Interactive and engaging presentations are welcomed. Following notification to authors, more information will be provided regarding speaking times and other details.

The accepted papers will be made available on the workshop website and the workshop will have official proceedings. Publication in the proceedings is not mandatory and authors can choose to have their papers excluded from the official proceedings by selecting “No proceedings” during submission in HotCRP.

Program Committee Co-Chairs

  • Aravind Machiry, Purdue University
  • Stefan Nagy, University of Utah

Program Committee

  • Antonio Bianchi, Purdue University
  • Audrey Dutcher, Arizona State University
  • Cong Sun, Xidian University
  • Dave (Jing) Tian, Purdue University
  • Dongrui Zeng, Pennsylvania State University
  • Eric Schulte, Google
  • Ganesh Gopalakrishnan, University of Utah
  • Ian Smith, Trail of Bits
  • Ilya Grishchenko, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Jason Hiser, University of Virginia
  • Jingling Xue, UNSW Sydney
  • Jordan Wiens, Vector 35
  • Jun Xu, University of Utah
  • Karine Even-Mendoza, Imperial College London
  • Peter Goodman, Trail of Bits
  • Sang Kil Cha, KAIST
  • Santiago Torres-Arias, Purdue University
  • Sarah Zennou, Airbus
  • Scott Bauer, Qualcomm
  • Tegan Brennan, Stevens Institute of Technology
  • Uday Khedker, IIT Bombay