# FirmAE: Towards Large-Scale Emulation of IoT Firmware for Dynamic Analysis

> Extends Firmadyne with empirically derived interventions for boot, networking, NVRAM, kernel behavior, and other runtime failures, enabling Linux router and IP-camera firmware web services to run for dynamic analysis.

- Authors: Mingeun Kim; Dongkwan Kim; Eunsoo Kim; Suryeon Kim; Yeongjin Jang; Yongdae Kim
- Venue: ACSAC 2020
- Status: Conference paper
- Publication / posting date: December 7, 2020
- Date source: ACM-deposited Crossref print-publication date; the online-publication date is recorded separately in metadata notes.
- DOI: 10.1145/3427228.3427294
- Sources reviewed: 2026-10-16
- Added to the catalog: 2026-10-17
- Original paper: <https://doi.org/10.1145/3427228.3427294>
- PDF: <https://syssec.kaist.ac.kr/pub/2020/kim_acsac2020.pdf>
- Code: <https://github.com/pr0v3rbs/FirmAE>
- BibTeX: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/citations/paper-firmae.bib>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/paper-firmae/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/paper-firmae/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/papers/paper-firmae/index.md)

## Scope and limitations

Arbitration deliberately changes execution and targets functioning web interfaces, not identical physical-device behavior. The evaluation covers ARM little-endian and MIPS little-/big-endian firmware from routers and IP cameras; heuristics may fail on unseen devices or configurations. It reuses firmware binaries rather than recovering their source.

## Why it fits this collection

Provides a concrete firmware-rehosting method and evaluation for restoring analyzable network-service behavior when exact hardware emulation is unavailable.

## Publication and review notes

ACM metadata records print publication on 2020-12-07 and online publication on 2020-12-08, pages 733–745. The six-author paper is separate from later repository updates. The pinned artifact README documents Ubuntu 20.04 and privileged run modes. Its MIT license does not license vendor firmware images or all dependencies.

## Primary sources

1. <https://doi.org/10.1145/3427228.3427294>
2. <https://api.crossref.org/works/10.1145/3427228.3427294>
3. <https://www.acsac.org/2020/program/papers/>
4. <https://syssec.kaist.ac.kr/pub/2020/kim_acsac2020.pdf>
5. <https://github.com/pr0v3rbs/FirmAE/blob/653565b5d14e6d69a1dd242aa88ecfb4b090a74a/README.md>
6. <https://github.com/pr0v3rbs/FirmAE/blob/653565b5d14e6d69a1dd242aa88ecfb4b090a74a/LICENSE.txt>

## Related entries

- [FirmAE](https://awesomerea.org/resources/firmae/index.md) · Curated resource

## About this entry

Reviewed against the paper and its primary sources. Cite the original authors using the linked paper or BibTeX.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.