Vector35 / Vector35/binaryninja-api

Overly broadly PVS due to opaque branch not removed at MLIL

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Component: Core Core: Dataflow Core: MLIL Effort: Medium Impact: Medium
Dominant language
C++
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Description

In the following code, arg_8 reports a PVS of {0x7f5b, 0x7f5c}:

Image

It might be confusing since reading the HLIL, it appears the value should be just {0x7f5c}. As it turns out, this is caused by an opaque branch at MLIL (instruction 13):

Image

Since we are doing PVS calculation at MLIL, and this opaque branch is not removed at MLIL, thus we retain the 0x7f5b value for its PVS

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Research direction

Inspect the MLIL around instruction 13 and compare its opaque branch with the corresponding HLIL and PVS result described in the report. Trace the MLIL PVS calculation to determine why 0x7f5b is retained; done means the reported arg_8 PVS matches the HLIL-visible value of 0x7f5c.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
reverse-engineering
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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