Granted Patent B2

US 12,536,288 · App. 17/736,417 · Granted Jan 27, 2026

Inventors: Neil David Jonathan Duggan (Basingstoke, GB); Vincenzo Kazimierz Marcovecchio (Toronto, CA); Adam John Boulton (Wirral, GB)

Assignee: BlackBerry Limited

G06F21/57G06F2221/033

Abstract

Claims (68)

1 . A method, comprising:

obtaining, by a server, binary software code corresponding to source code;

generating, by the server, a backdoor abstraction of the binary software code by identifying one or more library calls indicative of a potential backdoor in the binary software code; and

generating, by the server, a backdoor risk assessment based on the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code, wherein generating the backdoor risk assessment comprises:

determining, by the server, that none of the source code corresponds to the potential backdoor in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code by parsing the source code to search for the potential backdoor; and

in response to determining that none of the source code corresponds to the potential backdoor, determining that a risk is inserted during a generation of the binary software code corresponding to the source code and including the risk in the backdoor risk assessment.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the backdoor abstraction comprises:

including, by the server and in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code, a potential backdoor representation corresponding to the one or more library calls.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the backdoor abstraction comprises:

determining, by the server, that the binary software code comprises a string; and

including, by the server, a potential backdoor representation corresponding to the string in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the string comprises at least one of:

a Uniform Resource Locator (URL);

a hardcoded user credential; or

a high entropy string.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the backdoor risk assessment comprises:

comparing the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code and a backdoor abstraction of the source code.

6 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

storing, by the server, the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code as a baseline;

obtaining, by the server, additional binary software code;

generating, by the server, an additional backdoor abstraction of the additional binary software code; and

generating, by the server, an additional backdoor risk assessment based on the baseline and the additional backdoor abstraction.

7 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed, cause a computing device to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, by a server, binary software code corresponding to source code;

generating, by the server, a backdoor abstraction of the binary software code by identifying one or more library calls indicative of a potential backdoor in the binary software code; and

generating, by the server, a backdoor risk assessment based on the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code, wherein generating the backdoor risk assessment comprises:

determining, by the server, that none of the source code corresponds to the potential backdoor in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code by parsing the source code to search for the potential backdoor; and

in response to determining that none of the source code corresponds to the potential backdoor, determining that a risk is inserted during a generation of the binary software code corresponding to the source code and including the risk in the backdoor risk assessment.

8 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein generating the backdoor abstraction comprises:

including, by the server and in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code, a potential backdoor representation corresponding to the one or more library calls.

9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein generating the backdoor abstraction comprises:

determining, by the server, that the binary software code comprises a string; and

including, by the server, a potential backdoor representation corresponding to the string in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code.

10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the string comprises at least one of:

a Uniform Resource Locator (URL);

a hardcoded user credential; or

a high entropy string.

11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein generating the backdoor risk assessment comprises:

comparing the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code and a backdoor abstraction of the source code.

12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , comprising:

storing, by the server, the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code as a baseline;

obtaining, by the server, additional binary software code;

generating, by the server, an additional backdoor abstraction of the additional binary software code; and

generating, by the server, an additional backdoor risk assessment based on the baseline and the additional backdoor abstraction.

13 . A computer-implemented system, comprising:

one or more computers; and

one or more computer memory devices interoperably coupled with the one or more computers and having tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable media storing one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more computers, perform one or more operations comprising:

obtaining, by a server, binary software code corresponding to source code;

generating, by the server, a backdoor abstraction of the binary software code by identifying one or more library calls indicative of a potential backdoor in the binary software code; and

generating, by the server, a backdoor risk assessment based on the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code, wherein generating the backdoor risk assessment comprises:

determining, by the server, that none of the source code corresponds to the potential backdoor in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code by parsing the source code to search for the potential backdoor; and

in response to determining that none of the source code corresponds to the potential backdoor, determining that a risk is inserted during a generation of the binary software code corresponding to the source code and including the risk in the backdoor risk assessment.

14 . The computer-implemented system of claim 13 , wherein generating the backdoor abstraction comprises:

including, by the server and in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code, a potential backdoor representation corresponding to the one or more library calls.

15 . The computer-implemented system of claim 13 , wherein generating the backdoor abstraction comprises:

determining, by the server, that the binary software code comprises a string; and

including, by the server, a potential backdoor representation corresponding to the string in the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code.

16 . The computer-implemented system of claim 15 , wherein the string comprises at least one of:

a Uniform Resource Locator (URL);

a hardcoded user credential; or

a high entropy string.

17 . The computer-implemented system of claim 13 , wherein generating the backdoor risk assessment comprises:

comparing the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code and a backdoor abstraction of the source code.

18 . The computer-implemented system of claim 13 , the one or more operations comprising:

storing, by the server, the backdoor abstraction of the binary software code as a baseline;

obtaining, by the server, additional binary software code;

generating, by the server, an additional backdoor abstraction of the additional binary software code; and

generating, by the server, an additional backdoor risk assessment based on the baseline and the additional backdoor abstraction.

Assignments (5)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (23)