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Finding XPath Bugs in XML Document Processors via Differential Testing.

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Title: Finding XPath Bugs in XML Document Processors via Differential Testing.
Authors: Li, Shuxin1 shuxin.li.lv@gmail.com, Rigger, Manuel2 rigger@nus.edu.sg
Source: ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering. 2024, p1-12. 12p.
Subjects: XML (Extensible Markup Language), Information retrieval, Data transmission systems, Database management, XPath (Computer program language)
Abstract: Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a widely used file format for data storage and transmission. Many XML processors support XPath, a query language that enables the extraction of elements from XML documents. These systems can be affected by logic bugs, which are bugs that cause the processor to return incorrect results. In order to tackle such bugs, we propose a new approach, which we realized as a system called XPress. As a test oracle, XPress relies on differential testing, which compares the results of multiple systems on the same test input, and identifies bugs through discrepancies in their outputs. As test inputs, XPress generates both XML documents and XPath queries. Aiming to generate meaningful queries that compute non-empty results, XPress selects a so-called targeted node to guide the XPath expression generation process. Using the targeted node, XPress generates XPath expressions that reference existing context related to the targeted node, such as its tag name and attributes, while also guaranteeing that a predicate evaluates to true before further expanding the query. We tested our approach on six mature XML processors, BaseX, eXist-DB, Saxon, PostgreSQL, libXML2, and a commercial database system. In total, we have found 27 unique bugs in these systems, of which 25 have been verified by the developers, and 20 of which have been fixed. XPress is efficient, as it finds 12 unique bugs in BaseX in 24 hours, which is 2× as fast as naive random generation. We expect that the effectiveness and simplicity of our approach will help to improve the robustness of many XML processors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Finding XPath Bugs in XML Document Processors via Differential Testing.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22XML+%28Extensible+Markup+Language%29%22">XML (Extensible Markup Language)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Information+retrieval%22">Information retrieval</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+transmission+systems%22">Data transmission systems</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Database+management%22">Database management</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22XPath+%28Computer+program+language%29%22">XPath (Computer program language)</searchLink>
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  Data: Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a widely used file format for data storage and transmission. Many XML processors support XPath, a query language that enables the extraction of elements from XML documents. These systems can be affected by logic bugs, which are bugs that cause the processor to return incorrect results. In order to tackle such bugs, we propose a new approach, which we realized as a system called XPress. As a test oracle, XPress relies on differential testing, which compares the results of multiple systems on the same test input, and identifies bugs through discrepancies in their outputs. As test inputs, XPress generates both XML documents and XPath queries. Aiming to generate meaningful queries that compute non-empty results, XPress selects a so-called targeted node to guide the XPath expression generation process. Using the targeted node, XPress generates XPath expressions that reference existing context related to the targeted node, such as its tag name and attributes, while also guaranteeing that a predicate evaluates to true before further expanding the query. We tested our approach on six mature XML processors, BaseX, eXist-DB, Saxon, PostgreSQL, libXML2, and a commercial database system. In total, we have found 27 unique bugs in these systems, of which 25 have been verified by the developers, and 20 of which have been fixed. XPress is efficient, as it finds 12 unique bugs in BaseX in 24 hours, which is 2× as fast as naive random generation. We expect that the effectiveness and simplicity of our approach will help to improve the robustness of many XML processors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1145/3597503.3639208
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 12
        StartPage: 1
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: XML (Extensible Markup Language)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Information retrieval
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data transmission systems
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Database management
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: XPath (Computer program language)
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Finding XPath Bugs in XML Document Processors via Differential Testing.
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            NameFull: Li, Shuxin
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            NameFull: Rigger, Manuel
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            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Text: 2024
              Type: published
              Y: 2024
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering
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