Fuzz testing

Fuzzing or fuzz testing is an automated software testing technique that involves providing invalid, unexpected, or random data as inputs to a computer program. The program is then monitored for exceptions such as crashes, or failing built-in code assertions or for finding potential memory leaks. Typically, fuzzers are used to test programs that take structured inputs. This structure is specified, e.g., in a file format or and distinguishes valid from invalid input. An effective fuzzer generates semi-valid inputs that are "valid enough" so that they are not directly rejected from the parser but able to exercise interesting behaviors deeper in the program and "invalid enough" so that they might stress different corner cases and expose errors in the parser.

For the purpose of security, input that crosses a trust boundary is often the most interesting. For example, it is more important to fuzz code that handles the upload of a file by any user than it is to fuzz the code that parses a configuration file that is accessible only to a privileged user.

The fuzzing of programs with random inputs dates back to the 1950's when data was still stored on punched cards. Programmers would use punched cards that were pulled from the trash or card decks of random numbers as input to computer programs. If an execution revealed undesired behavior, a bug had been detected and was fixed.

The execution of random inputs is also called Random testing or Monkey testing. In 1981, Duran and Ntafos formally investigated the effectiveness of testing a program with random inputs. While random testing had been widely perceived to be the worst means of testing a program, the authors could show that it is a cost-effective alternative to more systematic testing techniques.

In 1983, Steve Capps developed "The Monkey", a tool that would generate random inputs for classic Mac OS applications, such as MacPaint. The figurative "monkey" refers to the infinite monkey theorem which states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will eventually type out the entire works of Shakespeare. In the case of testing, the monkey would write the particular sequence of inputs that will trigger a crash.

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