This repository provides the source code for GUIFuzz++: a prototype grey-box fuzzer for GUI-based applications on Linux.
This work is presented in our paper GUIFuzz++: Unleashing Grey-box Fuzzing on Desktop Graphical User Interfacing Applications, appearing in the 2025 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE'25).
| Citing this repository: |
@inproceedings{otto:guifuzzplusplus, title = {GUIFuzz++: Unleashing Grey-box Fuzzing on Desktop Graphical User Interfacing Applications}, author = {Dillon Otto and Tanner Rowlett and Stefan Nagy}, booktitle = {{IEEE/ACM} {International} {Conference} on {Automated} {Software} {Engineering} ({ASE})}, year = {2025},}
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| Maintainers: | Tanner Rowlett ([email protected]) and Stefan Nagy ([email protected]) |
| License: | MIT License |
| Disclaimer: | This software is provided as-is with no warranty. |
This setup was tested on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS. You may run into compiling issues if you have less than 16GB of RAM.
Create a new project folder, e.g.:
mkdir guifuzzing
cd guifuzzing
GUIFuzz++ has typically been used with Qt 6.8.1, some apps will work with apt installs of Qt as well.
Download dependencies:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libxcb-cursor0 libxcb-cursor-dev
Download and install QT via the online installer. This will require you to login to Qt:
wget https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/qt-online-installer-linux-x64-online.run
chmod +x qt-online-installer-linux-x64-online.run
./qt-online-installer-linux-x64-online.run
Under Installation options pick the directory you want to install e.g. /home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/Qt.
Uncheck anything selected by default and only select Custom Installation.
Under Customize click the Show dropdown, and check Archive.
Extensions
Qt WebEngine 6.8.1
Qt
Select Desktop, Qt Debug Information Files (optional), and the following additional libraries:
Qt 6.8.1
Additional Libraries
Qt 5 Compatibility Module
Qt Charts
Qt Multimedia
Qt Quick 3D
Qt Quick Timeline
Qt Shader Tools
Qt Speech
Qt State Machines
Qt WebChannel
Qt WebSockets
Qt WebView
Your installation should require ~7.3GB (11.8GB with Debug Info):
sudo apt install git make cmake extra-cmake-modules build-essential python3-chardet scrot python3-tk python3-dev python3-pip python3-sphinxcontrib*
NOTE: Use a venv if you have other python projects/installs:
sudo pip3 install pyautogui --break-system-packages
Add user to display users:
xhost +SI:localuser:$(whoami)
Clone this repo:
git clone https://github.com/FuturesLab/GUIFuzzPlusPlus.git
Build GUIFuzz++
cd GUIFuzzPlusPlus
make -j$(nproc)
After this, GUIFuzz++ should be ready to go. You'll want to compile some apps to fuzz using the GUIFuzz++ compilers (afl-clang-fast, etc.).
Setup an app following its repo instructions. For KDE apps you can also use kdesrc-build:
kdesrc-build can be used to build some of the applications GUIFuzz++ was benchmarked on, below are steps to get a KDE app setup.
Initial Setup
git clone https://invent.kde.org/sdk/kdesrc-build
cd kdesrc-build
./kdesrc-build --initial-setup
Modules You will need to create a module for each KDE app you want to build using kdesrc-build.
Add modules to the kdesrc config file:
nano ~/.config/kdesrc-buildrc
module kolourpaint
repository https://invent.kde.org/graphics/kolourpaint.git
branch master
set-env CC /home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/afl-clang-fast
set-env CXX /home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/afl-clang-fast++
end module
Build
./kdesrc-build kolourpaint
This will install to ~/kde/ by default.
NOTE:
kdesrc-build can be difficult with dependencies, it might be easier to install directly from the application git repo.
You can find more info at https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Build_from_source.
Before building targets you (may) need to add the custom Qt install to your PATH and CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH:
echo 'export PATH="/home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/Qt/6.8.1/gcc_64/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="/home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/Qt/6.8.1/gcc_64:$CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
Then follow target repo instructions to build, swap CC and CXX compilers with GUIFuzz++'s compilers:
Umbrello is easiest to setup with Qt5, you'll need these dependencies:
sudo apt install qtbase5-dev qttools5-dev qttools5-dev-tools libkf5coreaddons-dev libkf5i18n-dev libkf5kio-dev libkf5archive-dev libkf5completion-dev libkf5config-dev libkf5crash-dev libkf5doctools-dev libkf5iconthemes-dev libkf5texteditor-dev libkf5widgetsaddons-dev libkf5windowsystem-dev libkf5xmlgui-dev
Clone and build:
git clone https://github.com/KDE/umbrello.git
cd umbrello
mkdir build && cd build
# Set CC & CXX
export CC=/home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/afl-clang-fast
export CXX=/home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/afl-clang-fast++
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ../
make -j$(nproc)
The binary should be at:
umbrello/build/bin/umbrello5
After you've compiled an app with a GUIFuzz++ compiler you can start a trial with a command like this:
/path/to/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/afl-fuzz \
-K /path/to/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/gui_utils/atspi_clicks.py \
-t 100000 -i in -o out -m none -- /path/to/app
You need to populate the in directory with seed files. The easiest way to do this is use generate_random_bytes.py in GUIFuzzPlusPlus/gui_utils.
Example usage: python3 generate_random_bytes.py 300 seed
This will generate 300 random bytes (i.e., 100 random 3-byte interactions; see our paper for details).
Adjust -t if needed (indivudal executions can be slow, so 100 seconds is reasonable).
For AFL++, you will likely need to run:
echo core | sudo tee /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
We recommend saving the following in a .sh for easier spinup:
/home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/afl-fuzz \
-K /home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/GUIFuzzPlusPlus/gui_utils/atspi_clicks.py \
-t 100000 -i in -o out -m none -- /home/guifuzz/guifuzzing/targets/umbrello/build/bin/umbrello5
If an app doesn't compile, try different CC/CXX options (such as afl-clang-fast, afl-gcc, afl-clang, etc.).
Certain apps may require adding the custom Qt install to LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
If the app opens but doesn't interact, check your XDG session type, you need to be using x11/Xorg:
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
x11 # GUIFuzz++ won't work with wayland
An Ubuntu 24.04.3 .qcow2 image with GUIFuzz++ ready to run can be found on Zenodo.
This image also comes with Umbrello fuzz ready so you can see GUIFuzz++ in action!
| Decompiler | Reported Bugs |
|---|---|
| Dia | GNOME/dia#568 |
| Glaxnimate | KDE/glaxnimate#703, KDE/glaxnimate#707 |
| Kcalc | KDE/kcalc#504679 |
| KolourPaint | KDE/kolourpaint#498550, KDE/kolourpaint#502689, KDE/kolourpaint#504786, KDE/kolourpaint#504787 |
| LabPlot2 | KDE/labplot2#502043, KDE/labplot2#504794, KDE/labplot2#504839 |
| LibreCAD | LibreCAD/LibreCAD#2093, LibreCAD/LibreCAD#2161 |
| Mate-Calc | mate-desktop/mate-calc#226 |
| Plotjuggler | facontidavide/PlotJuggler#1052 |
| QCAD | QCAD/QCAD#11668 |
| Umbrello | KDE/umbrello#502347, KDE/umbrello#504939, KDE/umbrello#504940, KDE/umbrello#504941, KDE/umbrello#504942 |
| Xcalc | xorg/xcalc#3, xorg/xcalc#4 |
If you find new bugs using GUIFuzz++, please let us know!