Vasileios Kemerlis<p>As we welcome 2025, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on what an extraordinary year 2024 has been for Brown CS Secure Systems Lab (<a href="https://gitlab.com/brown-ssl/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">gitlab.com/brown-ssl/</span><span class="invisible"></span></a>). It has been a year of innovation, creativity, and growth—both for the lab and for me personally as its director. Witnessing the passion, dedication, and brilliance of our team—Neophytos Christou, Alexander Gaidis, Marius Momeu, <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@dijin" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>dijin</span></a></span>, and Vaggelis Atlidakis—has been truly fulfilling and inspiring!</p><p>In 2024, we tackled complex challenges and made significant strides in advancing our research on software hardening and OS kernel protection. Here are some highlights from this remarkable year:</p><p>✳️ Marius Momeu presented <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/SafeSlab" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SafeSlab</span></a> at <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.acm.org/@acm_ccs" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>acm_ccs</span></a></span> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/CCS2024" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CCS2024</span></a>. Safeslab hardens the Linux SLUB allocator against exploits that abuse use-after-free (<a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/UaF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>UaF</span></a>) vulnerabilities, using <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/Intel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Intel</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/MPK" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MPK</span></a>. (Joint work with Technical University of Munich and <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://infosec.exchange/@mikepo" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>mikepo</span></a></span>.)<br>📄 <a href="https://cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/safeslab.ccs24.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/safes</span><span class="invisible">lab.ccs24.pdf</span></a><br>💾 <a href="https://github.com/tum-itsec/safeslab" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">github.com/tum-itsec/safeslab</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>✳️ Neophytos Christou presented <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/Eclipse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Eclipse</span></a> at <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.acm.org/@acm_ccs" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>acm_ccs</span></a></span> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/CCS2024" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CCS2024</span></a>. Eclipse is a compiler-assisted framework that propagates artificial data dependencies onto sensitive data, preventing the CPU from using attacker-controlled input during speculative execution.<br>📄 <a href="https://cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/eclipse.ccs24.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/eclip</span><span class="invisible">se.ccs24.pdf</span></a><br>💾 <a href="https://gitlab.com/brown-ssl/eclipse" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">gitlab.com/brown-ssl/eclipse</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>✳️ Di Jin presented <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/BeeBox" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BeeBox</span></a> at the <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://infosec.exchange/@usenixassociation" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>usenixassociation</span></a></span> Security Symposium 2024. BeeBox hardens <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/Linux" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Linux</span></a> BPF/eBPF against transient execution attacks. <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/usesec24" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>usesec24</span></a><br>📄 <a href="https://cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/beebox.sec24.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/beebo</span><span class="invisible">x.sec24.pdf</span></a><br>💾 <a href="https://gitlab.com/brown-ssl/beebox" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">gitlab.com/brown-ssl/beebox</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>✳️ Yaniv David presented <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/Quack" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Quack</span></a> at the NDSS Symposium 2024. Quack hardens PHP code against deserialization attacks using a novel (static) duck typing-based approach. (Joint work with Andreas D Kellas and Junfeng Yang.) <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/NDSSsymposium2024" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NDSSsymposium2024</span></a><br>📄 <a href="https://cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/quack.ndss24.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/quack</span><span class="invisible">.ndss24.pdf</span></a><br>💾 <a href="https://github.com/columbia/quack" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">github.com/columbia/quack</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>✳️ Marius Momeu presented <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/ISLAB" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ISLAB</span></a> at <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.acm.org/@ACM" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>ACM</span></a></span> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/ASIACCS24" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ASIACCS24</span></a>. ISLAB hardens SLAB-based (kernel) allocators, against memory errors, via SMAP-assisted isolation. (Joint work with Technical University of Munich and <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://infosec.exchange/@mikepo" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>mikepo</span></a></span>.) <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/asiaccs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>asiaccs</span></a><br>📄 <a href="https://cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/islab.asiaccs24.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/islab</span><span class="invisible">.asiaccs24.pdf</span></a><br>💾 <a href="https://github.com/tum-itsec/islab" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">github.com/tum-itsec/islab</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>🏆 <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/EPF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EPF</span></a> (presented by Di Jin at <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://infosec.exchange/@usenixassociation" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>usenixassociation</span></a></span> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/ATC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ATC</span></a> 2023) was the runner-up for the "Bug of the Year" award ("Weirdest Machine" category) at IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy LangSec (Language-Theoretic Security) workshop 2024! <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/atc23" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>atc23</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/LangSec" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LangSec</span></a><br>⌨️ <a href="https://langsec.org/spw24/bugs-of-the-year-awards.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">langsec.org/spw24/bugs-of-the-</span><span class="invisible">year-awards.html</span></a><br>📄 <a href="https://cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/epf.atc23.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.brown.edu/~vpk/papers/epf.a</span><span class="invisible">tc23.pdf</span></a><br>💾 <a href="https://gitlab.com/brown-ssl/epf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">gitlab.com/brown-ssl/epf</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>🏅 I am honored and delighted to have received the "Distinguished Reviewer Award" at <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.acm.org/@acm_ccs" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>acm_ccs</span></a></span> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/CCS2024" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CCS2024</span></a>!</p><p>🏅Alexander Gaidis has been awarded the "Distinguished Artifact Reviewer" award at the <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://infosec.exchange/@usenixassociation" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>usenixassociation</span></a></span> Security Symposium 2024!<br><a href="https://cs.brown.edu/news/2024/09/20/brown-cs-phd-student-alexander-j-gaidis-has-been-named-a-usenix-security-2024-distinguished-artifact-reviewer/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.brown.edu/news/2024/09/20/b</span><span class="invisible">rown-cs-phd-student-alexander-j-gaidis-has-been-named-a-usenix-security-2024-distinguished-artifact-reviewer/</span></a><br><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/usesec24" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>usesec24</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/proudadvisor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>proudadvisor</span></a></p><p>📢 I had the great pleasure of discussing some of these works recently at the Computer Systems Seminar at Boston University!<br>📽️ <a href="https://www.bu.edu/rhcollab/events/bu-systems-bu%E2%99%BAs-seminar/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">bu.edu/rhcollab/events/bu-syst</span><span class="invisible">ems-bu%E2%99%BAs-seminar/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/brownssl" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>brownssl</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/browncs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>browncs</span></a> 🚀</p>