Francesco Pagano, Mariano Ceccato, Alessio Merlo, Paolo Tonella

MITHRAS: A dynamic analysis framework for the mobile-IoT ecosystem


Abstract

Firmware re-hosting is crucial when developing methodologies to simulate and execute device-specific firmware, including techniques for firmware testing and security assessments. Although state-of-the-art solutions such as Firmadyne and FirmAE emulate IoT firmware, they cannot simulate communication with external clients and provide limited real-time and security testing support. In this demonstration, we introduce MITHRAS. This novel simulation framework enables static instrumentation and full emulation of IoT device firmware, allowing communication with external clients such as the companion app installed on a smartphone. MITHRAS also supports dynamic instrumentation of the code of the mobile companion app, allowing users to gather detailed information on the app's execution. MITHRAS supports seamless communication between the emulated IoT device and its companion smartphone app, providing a fully integrated emulation environment. Moreover, it offers real-time tracing of php script executions.

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