TY - GEN
T1 - A Qualitative Analysis of Fuzzer Usability and Challenges
AU - Zhao, Yunze
AU - Guo, Wentao
AU - Goldstein, Harrison
AU - Votipka, Daniel
AU - Fulton, Kelsey R.
AU - Mazurek, Michelle L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).
PY - 2025/11/22
Y1 - 2025/11/22
N2 - Fuzzing is a widely adopted technique for uncovering software vulnerabilities by generating random or mutated test inputs to trigger unexpected behavior. However, little is known about how developers actually use fuzzing tools in practice, the challenges they face, and where current tools fall short. This study investigates the human side of fuzzing via 18 semi-structured interviews with fuzzing users across diverse domains. These interviews explore participants' workflows, frustrations, and expectations around fuzzing, revealing critical usability gaps and design opportunities. Our results can inform the next generation of fuzzing tools to improve user experience, reduce manual effort, and enable more effective integration of fuzzing into real-world workflows.
AB - Fuzzing is a widely adopted technique for uncovering software vulnerabilities by generating random or mutated test inputs to trigger unexpected behavior. However, little is known about how developers actually use fuzzing tools in practice, the challenges they face, and where current tools fall short. This study investigates the human side of fuzzing via 18 semi-structured interviews with fuzzing users across diverse domains. These interviews explore participants' workflows, frustrations, and expectations around fuzzing, revealing critical usability gaps and design opportunities. Our results can inform the next generation of fuzzing tools to improve user experience, reduce manual effort, and enable more effective integration of fuzzing into real-world workflows.
KW - Dynamic Testing
KW - Fuzzing
KW - Usability
KW - Usable Security
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023835810
U2 - 10.1145/3719027.3765055
DO - 10.1145/3719027.3765055
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105023835810
T3 - CCS 2025 - Proceedings of the 2025 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security
SP - 2504
EP - 2518
BT - CCS 2025 - Proceedings of the 2025 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security
PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
T2 - 32nd ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security, CCS 2025
Y2 - 13 October 2025 through 17 October 2025
ER -