Preventing Capability Abuse through Systematic Analysis of Exposed Interface

Connectivity and interoperability are becoming more and more critical in today’s software and cyber-physical systems. Different components of the system can better collaborate, enabling new innovation opportunities. However, to support connectivity and interoperability, systems and applications have to expose certain capabilities, which inevitably expands their attack surfaces and increases the risk of being abused. Due to the complexity of software systems and the heterogeneity of cyber-physical systems, it is challenging to secure their exposed interfaces and completely prevent abuses. To address the problems in a proactive manner, in this dissertation, we demonstrate that systematic studies of exposed interfaces and their usage in the real world, leveraging techniques such as program analysis, can reveal design-level, implementation-level, as well as configuration-level security issues, which can help with the development of defense solutions that effectively prevent capability abuse. This dissertation solves four problems in this space. First, we detect inconsistent security policy enforcement, a common implementation flaw. Focusing on the Android framework, we design and build a tool that compares permissions enforced on different code paths and identifies the paths enforcing weaker permissions. Second, we propose the Application Lifecycle Graph (ALG), a novel modeling approach to describing system-wide app lifecycle, to assist the detection of diehard behaviors that abuse lifecycle interfaces. We develop a lightweight runtime framework that utilizes ALG to realize fine-grained app lifecycle control. Third, we study real-world programmable logic controller programs for identifying insecure configurations that can be abused by adversaries to cause safety violations. Lastly, we conduct the first systematic security study on the usage of Unix domain sockets on Android, which reveals both implementation flaws and configuration weaknesses.PHDComputer Science & EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149960/1/yurushao_1.pd

ACMiner: Extraction and Analysis of Authorization Checks in Android's Middleware

Billions of users rely on the security of the Android platform to protect phones, tablets, and many different types of consumer electronics. While Android's permission model is well studied, the enforcement of the protection policy has received relatively little attention. Much of this enforcement is spread across system services, taking the form of hard-coded checks within their implementations. In this paper, we propose Authorization Check Miner (ACMiner), a framework for evaluating the correctness of Android's access control enforcement through consistency analysis of authorization checks. ACMiner combines program and text analysis techniques to generate a rich set of authorization checks, mines the corresponding protection policy for each service entry point, and uses association rule mining at a service granularity to identify inconsistencies that may correspond to vulnerabilities. We used ACMiner to study the AOSP version of Android 7.1.1 to identify 28 vulnerabilities relating to missing authorization checks. In doing so, we demonstrate ACMiner's ability to help domain experts process thousands of authorization checks scattered across millions of lines of code

Multi-Feature Guided Low-Light Image Enhancement

Due to the characteristics of low signal-to-noise ratio and low contrast, low-light images will have problems such as color distortion, low visibility, and accompanying noise, which will cause the accuracy of the target detection problem to drop or even miss the detection target. However, recalibrating the dataset for this type of image will face problems such as increased cost or reduced model robustness. To solve this kind of problem, we propose a low-light image enhancement model based on deep learning. In this paper, the feature extraction is guided by the illumination map and noise map, and then the neural network is trained to predict the local affine model coefficients in the bilateral space. Through these methods, our network can effectively denoise and enhance images. We have conducted extensive experiments on the LOL datasets, and the results show that, compared with traditional image enhancement algorithms, the model is superior to traditional methods in image quality and speed

Dynamic Accumulation of the Quaternary Shale Biogas in Sanhu Area of the Qaidam Basin, China

Biogas resources in the Sanhu area of the Qaidam Basin have great potential, but there are few studies on biogas from shale, especially on the accumulation conditions of shale biogas. The study of biogas accumulation conditions of quaternary shale in the Sanhu area is of great significance to the theory of biogas accumulation and the guidance of exploration and development. This paper takes Quaternary shale in the Sanhu area as the research object. It is analyzed from multiple perspectives of shale hydrocarbon generation conditions, reservoir conditions, as well as hydrodynamic and structural conditions. Through the experiments of soluble organic carbon analysis and porosity and permeability analysis, the accumulation conditions of shale biogas reservoirs are clarified. The results show that the quaternary shale has a high soluble organic carbon content and high salinity formation water, which is conducive to late methane biochemical generation. Quaternary shale has the characteristics of high porosity and low permeability, mainly developing intergranular pores and intragranular pores. The large pore volume and specific surface area provide a lot of storage space for free gas and adsorbed gas, and the reservoir conditions are good. Under the structural characteristics of high in the south and low in the north and the action of formation hydrodynamics, biogas migrated from the south and deep to the north of the basin. The north slope is the main biogas-rich zone. On the whole, the quaternary shale in the Sanhu area has the characteristics of continuous hydrocarbon generation and dynamic accumulation, which has huge resource potential and exploration and development value

Dynamic Accumulation of the Quaternary Shale Biogas in Sanhu Area of the Qaidam Basin, China

Biogas resources in the Sanhu area of the Qaidam Basin have great potential, but there are few studies on biogas from shale, especially on the accumulation conditions of shale biogas. The study of biogas accumulation conditions of quaternary shale in the Sanhu area is of great significance to the theory of biogas accumulation and the guidance of exploration and development. This paper takes Quaternary shale in the Sanhu area as the research object. It is analyzed from multiple perspectives of shale hydrocarbon generation conditions, reservoir conditions, as well as hydrodynamic and structural conditions. Through the experiments of soluble organic carbon analysis and porosity and permeability analysis, the accumulation conditions of shale biogas reservoirs are clarified. The results show that the quaternary shale has a high soluble organic carbon content and high salinity formation water, which is conducive to late methane biochemical generation. Quaternary shale has the characteristics of high porosity and low permeability, mainly developing intergranular pores and intragranular pores. The large pore volume and specific surface area provide a lot of storage space for free gas and adsorbed gas, and the reservoir conditions are good. Under the structural characteristics of high in the south and low in the north and the action of formation hydrodynamics, biogas migrated from the south and deep to the north of the basin. The north slope is the main biogas-rich zone. On the whole, the quaternary shale in the Sanhu area has the characteristics of continuous hydrocarbon generation and dynamic accumulation, which has huge resource potential and exploration and development value

Dynamic Accumulation of the Quaternary Shale Biogas in Sanhu Area of the Qaidam Basin, China

Biogas resources in Sanhu area of Qaidam Basin have great potential, but there are few researches on biogas of shale, especially on the accumulation conditions of shale biogas. The study of biogas accumulation conditions of quaternary shale in Sanhu area is of great significance to the theory of biogas accumulation and the guidance of exploration and development. This paper takes the quaternary shale in Sanhu area as the research object, through the experiment of soluble organic carbon analysis, pore permeability analysis and so on, analyzes the accumulation conditions of shale biological gas reservoir from the perspectives of hydrocarbon generation, reservoir conditions, hydrodynamic and structural conditions. The results show that the quaternary shale has high soluble organic carbon content and high salinity formation water, which is conducive to the late methane biochemical generation. Quaternary shale has the characteristics of high porosity and low permeability, mainly developing intergranular pores and intragranular pores. The large pore volume and specific surface area provide a lot of storage space for free gas and adsorbed gas, and the reservoir conditions are good. Under the structural characteristics of high in the south and low in the north and the action of formation hydrodynamics, biogas migrated from the south and deep to the north of the basin. The north slope is the main biogas rich zone. On the whole, the quaternary shale in Sanhu area has the characteristics of continuous hydrocarbon generation and dynamic accumulation, which has huge resource potential and exploration and development value

Cinobufacini Injection Inhibits the Proliferation of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Through the Pin1-TAZ Signaling Pathway

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer (BC), which is characterized by the total absence of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), progesterone receptor (PR), and estrogen receptor (ER) expression. Cinobufacini injection (CI) is the aqueous extract from the dry skin of Bufo gargarizans, which is broadly used for the treatment of malignant tumors. However, the potential mechanism of CI against TNBC has not been fully revealed. In this study, we found that CI inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 and 4T1 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. RNA-seq data showed that downregulated and upregulated genes were mainly enriched in biological processes related to tumor cell proliferation, including cell cycle arrest and regulation of apoptosis signaling pathways. Indeed, after CI treatment, the protein level of CDK1 and Bcl-2/Bax decreased, indicating that CI induced the cell cycle of MDA-MB-231 arrest in the G2/M phase and increased the rate of apoptosis. Meanwhile, CI significantly inhibited the growth of tumor in vivo, and RNA-seq data showed that the TAZ signaling pathway played a vital role after CI treatment. Both immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis confirmed the downregulation of Pin1 and TAZ, caused by CI treatment. Furthermore, the bioinformatics analysis indicated that Pin1 and TAZ were indeed elevated in TNBC patients, with poor staging, classification, and patient survival rate. In conclusion, CI effectively inhibited the proliferation of TNBC in vitro and in vivo and induced their apoptosis and cycle arrest through the Pin1–TAZ pathway

The Prognostic Significance of <i>FKBP1A</i> and Its Related Immune Infiltration in Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) remains a global health challenge with poor prognosis and high mortality. FKBP1A was first discovered as a receptor for the immunosuppressant drug FK506 in immune cells and is critical for various tumors and cancers. However, the relationships between FKBP1A expression, cellular distribution, tumor immunity, and prognosis in LIHC remain unclear. Here, we investigated the expression level of FKBP1A and its prognostic value in LIHC via multiple datasets including ONCOMINE, TIMER, GEPIA, UALCAN, HCCDB, Kaplan–Meier plotter, LinkedOmics, and STRING. Human liver tissue microarray was employed to analyze the characteristics of FKBP1A protein including the expression level and pathological alteration in cellular distribution. FKBP1A expression was significantly higher in LIHC and correlated with tumor stage, grade and metastasis. The expression level of the FKBP1A protein was also increased in LIHC patients along with its accumulation in endoplasmic reticulum (ER). High FKBP1A expression was correlated with a poor survival rate in LIHC patients. The analysis of gene co-expression and the regulatory pathway network suggested that FKBP1A is mainly involved in protein synthesis, metabolism and the immune-related pathway. FKBP1A expression had a significantly positive association with the infiltration of hematopoietic immune cells including B cells, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells. Moreover, M2 macrophage infiltration was especially associated with a poor survival prognosis in LIHC. Furthermore, FKBP1A expression was significantly positively correlated with the expression of markers of M2 macrophages and immune checkpoint proteins such as PD-L1, CTLA-4, LAG3 and HAVCR2. Our study demonstrated that FKBP1A could be a potential prognostic target involved in tumor immune cell infiltration in LIHC

Cardiac-Specific Expression of Cre Recombinase Leads to Age-Related Cardiac Dysfunction Associated with Tumor-like Growth of Atrial Cardiomyocyte and Ventricular Fibrosis and Ferroptosis

Transgenic expression of Cre recombinase driven by a specific promoter is normally used to conditionally knockout a gene in a tissue- or cell-type-specific manner. In &alpha;MHC-Cre transgenic mouse model, expression of Cre recombinase is controlled by the myocardial-specific &alpha;-myosin heavy chain (&alpha;MHC) promoter, which is commonly used to edit myocardial-specific genes. Toxic effects of Cre expression have been reported, including intro-chromosome rearrangements, micronuclei formation and other forms of DNA damage, and cardiomyopathy was observed in cardiac-specific Cre transgenic mice. However, mechanisms associated with Cardiotoxicity of Cre remain poorly understood. In our study, our data unveiled that &alpha;MHC-Cre mice developed arrhythmias and died after six months progressively, and none of them survived more than one year. Histopathological examination showed that &alpha;MHC-Cre mice had aberrant proliferation of tumor-like tissue in the atrial chamber extended from and vacuolation of ventricular myocytes. Furthermore, the &alpha;MHC-Cre mice developed severe cardiac interstitial and perivascular fibrosis, accompanied by significant increase of expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the cardiac atrium and ventricular. Moreover, cardiac-specific expression of Cre led to disintegration of the intercalated disc, along with altered proteins expression of the disc and calcium-handling abnormality. Comprehensively, we identified that the ferroptosis signaling pathway is involved in heart failure caused by cardiac-specific expression of Cre, on which oxidative stress results in cytoplasmic vacuole accumulation of lipid peroxidation on the myocardial cell membrane. Taken together, these results revealed that cardiac-specific expression of Cre recombinase can lead to atrial mesenchymal tumor-like growth in the mice, which causes cardiac dysfunction, including cardiac fibrosis, reduction of the intercalated disc and cardiomyocytes ferroptosis at the age older than six months in mice. Our study suggests that &alpha;MHC-Cre mouse models are effective in young mice, but not in old mice. Researchers need to be particularly careful when using &alpha;MHC-Cre mouse model to interpret those phenotypic impacts of gene responses. As the Cre-associated cardiac pathology matched mostly to that of the patients, the model could also be employed for investigating age-related cardiac dysfunction