VMORPH: A Virtualization/Metamorphic Framework for Binary Obfuscation and Intellectual Property Protection
Pierciro Caliandro, Matteo Ciccaglione, Andrea Pepe, Giuseppe Bianchi, and Alessandro Pellegrini
Published in: Proceedings of the 2025 Italian Conference on Cybersecurity
Abstract:
In this paper, we analyse the effectiveness of combining obfuscation and metamorphism techniques to evade antivirus detection and protect intellectual property. We do so by introducing a new framework called VMORPH, which utilises jointly emulation and metamorphic techniques to thwart attempts at reconstructing the application’s behaviour and accessing internal details or secrets. We assess the performance of VMORPH to determine its suitability for safeguarding the intellectual property of the application. The findings indicate a decrease in performance, which is still acceptable for securing applications. Additionally, we investigate the stealth capabilities of the proposed technique, which enhances its ability to bypass common static analysis techniques. Based on the results, we also suggest detection techniques that can be employed to mitigate the risk that this technique is used to evade antivirus detection.
BibTeX Entry:
author = {Caliandro, Pierciro and Ciccaglione, Matteo and Pepe, Andrea and Bianchi, Giuseppe and Pellegrini, Alessandro},
title = {VMORPH: A Virtualization/Metamorphic Framework for Binary Obfuscation and Intellectual Property Protection},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2025 Italian Conference on Cybersecurity},
year = {2025},
month = feb,
publisher = {CEUR-WS.org},
series = {ITASEC},
location = {Bologna, Italy},
note = {To appear}
}