# On Manually Reverse Engineering Communication Protocols of Linux Based IoT Systems

> Presents a manual framework for reverse engineering communication protocols in embedded Linux IoT systems. It applies the framework to several systems and details a WeMo smart plug case study.

- Authors: Kaizheng Liu; Ming Yang; Zhen Ling; Huaiyu Yan; Yue Zhang; Xinwen Fu; Wei Zhao
- Venue: arXiv
- Status: Preprint
- Publication / posting date: July 23, 2020
- Date source: First arXiv submission date.
- First arXiv submission: July 23, 2020
- arXiv: 2007.11981
- Reviewed arXiv version: v2
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-06
- Original paper: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.11981>
- PDF: <https://arxiv.org/pdf/2007.11981>
- BibTeX: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/citations/paper-manually-re-iot-protocols.bib>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/paper-manually-re-iot-protocols/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/papers/paper-manually-re-iot-protocols/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/papers/paper-manually-re-iot-protocols/index.md)

## Scope and limitations

The detailed evaluation covers a WeMo smart plug: extracting firmware from flash, analyzing it statically and dynamically, and examining network traffic. The framework covers read-only and writable embedded Linux filesystems.

## Why it fits this collection

It describes a practical workflow for discovering an IoT device’s communication protocol through firmware and traffic analysis.

## Publication and review notes

The date and venue come from the arXiv record.

## Primary sources

1. <https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.11981>

## 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.