0-knowledge fuzzing
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
Topic or Tag
Abstract
Nowadays fuzzing is a pretty common technique used by both attackers and software developers. Currently known techniques usually involve knowing the protocol/format that needs to be fuzzed and having a basic understanding of how the user input is processed inside the binary. In the past, since fuzzing was little-used, obtaining good results with a small amount of effort was possible.
Today finding bugs requires digging a lot inside the code and the user-input as common vulnerabilities are already identified and fixed by developers. This paper will present an idea on how to effectively fuzz with no knowledge of the user-input and the binary. Specifically the paper will demonstrate how techniques like code coverage, data tainting and in-memory fuzzing allow to build a smart fuzzer with no need to instrument it.
Cite This SEI Report
Iozzo, V. (2010, February 9). 0-knowledge fuzzing. Retrieved August 19, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/0-knowledge-fuzzing/.
@techreport{iozzo_2010,
author={Iozzo, Vincenzo },
title={0-knowledge fuzzing},
month={Feb},
year={2010},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/0-knowledge-fuzzing/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Aug-19}
}
Iozzo, Vincenzo . "0-knowledge fuzzing." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, February 9, 2010. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/0-knowledge-fuzzing/.
V. Iozzo, "0-knowledge fuzzing," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, 9-Feb-2010 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/0-knowledge-fuzzing/. [Accessed: 19-Aug-2026].
Iozzo, Vincenzo . "0-knowledge fuzzing." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 9 Feb. 2010. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/0-knowledge-fuzzing/. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.
Iozzo, Vincenzo . 0-knowledge fuzzing. Software Engineering Institute. 2010. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/0-knowledge-fuzzing/