An extra bit of analysis for Clemency

Summary: This year's DEF CON CTF used a purpose-built hardware architecture called cLEMENCy, with only a specification and reference tooling released 24 hours before the four-day final event began. The architecture was designed to break existing tools and make writing new ones harder, and the Trail of Bits team wrote and used a Binary Ninja processor module during the competition to analyze challenges faster than the organizers' limited disassembler and debugger allowed.
Why it matters: cLEMENCy deliberately degrades the advantage of advanced tooling like Manticore or a Cyber Reasoning System to level the CTF playing field - a reminder that tooling built for known architectures can be neutralized by design choices, and that a 24-hour window is what defenders get to adapt.

Read the original at Trail of Bits Blog ↗