Intrinsic Propensity for Vulnerability in Computers? Arbitrary Code Execution in the Universal Turing Machine
This finding highlights a potential intrinsic vulnerability in fundamental computer models, which could impact theoretical computer science and security research.
The paper reports the discovery of an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Marvin Minsky's 1967 implementation of the universal Turing machine, where crafted data can coerce the machine to execute user-provided code, marking the first such vulnerability reported in such a simple system.
The universal Turing machine is generally considered to be the simplest, most abstract model of a computer. This paper reports on the discovery of an accidental arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Marvin Minsky's 1967 implementation of the universal Turing machine. By submitting crafted data, the machine may be coerced into executing user-provided code. The article presents the discovered vulnerability in detail and discusses its potential implications. To the best of our knowledge, an arbitrary code execution vulnerability has not previously been reported for such a simple system.