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OSS-Fuzz provides free continuous fuzzing for open source projects. Use when setting up continuous fuzzing infrastructure or enrolling projects.
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LanguagePython
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</> SKILL.md
ossfuzz.SKILL.md
---name: ossfuzz
type: technique
description: >
OSS-Fuzz provides free continuous fuzzing for open source projects.
Use when setting up continuous fuzzing infrastructure or enrolling projects.
---# OSS-Fuzz
[OSS-Fuzz](https://google.github.io/oss-fuzz/) is an open-source project developed by Google that provides free distributed infrastructure for continuous fuzz testing. It streamlines the fuzzing process and facilitates simpler modifications. While only select projects are accepted into OSS-Fuzz, the project's core is open-source, allowing anyone to host their own instance for private projects.
## Overview
OSS-Fuzz provides a simple CLI framework for building and starting harnesses or calculating their coverage. Additionally, OSS-Fuzz can be used as a service that hosts static web pages generated from fuzzing outputs such as coverage information.
### Key Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **helper.py** | CLI script for building images, building fuzzers, and running harnesses locally |
| **Base Images** | Hierarchical Docker images providing build dependencies and compilers |
| **project.yaml** | Configuration file defining project metadata for OSS-Fuzz enrollment |
| **Dockerfile** | Project-specific image with build dependencies |
| **build.sh** | Script that builds fuzzing harnesses for your project |
OSS-Fuzz provides several publicly available tools and web interfaces:
### Bug Tracker
The [bug tracker](https://issues.oss-fuzz.com/issues?q=status:open) allows you to:
- Check bugs from specific projects (initially visible only to maintainers, later [made public](https://google.github.io/oss-fuzz/getting-started/bug-disclosure-guidelines/))
- Create new issues and comment on existing ones
- Search for similar bugs across **all projects** to understand issues
### Build Status System
The [build status system](https://oss-fuzz-build-logs.storage.googleapis.com/index.html) helps track:
- `--sanitizer=address` for [AddressSanitizer](https://appsec.guide/docs/fuzzing/techniques/asan/) with [LeakSanitizer](https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/AddressSanitizerLeakSanitizer)
- Other sanitizers available (language support varies)
**Note:** Fuzzers are built to `/build/out/<project-name>/` containing the harness executables, dictionaries, corpus, and crash files.
Harnesses are built and executed in Docker containers. All projects share a runner image, but each project has its own build image.
### Image Hierarchy
Images build on each other in this sequence:
1. **[base_image](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/blob/master/infra/base-images/base-image/Dockerfile)** - Specific Ubuntu version
2. **[base_clang](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/tree/master/infra/base-images/base-clang)** - Clang compiler; based on `base_image`
3. **[base_builder](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/tree/master/infra/base-images/base-builder)** - Build dependencies; based on `base_clang`
- Language-specific variants: [`base_builder_go`](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/tree/master/infra/base-images/base-builder-go), etc.
- See [/oss-fuzz/infra/base-images/](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/tree/master/infra/base-images) for full list
4. **Your project Docker image** - Project-specific dependencies; based on `base_builder` or language variant
### Runner Images (Used Separately)
- **[base_runner](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/tree/master/infra/base-images/base-runner)** - Executes harnesses; based on `base_clang`
- **[base_runner_debug](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/tree/master/infra/base-images/base-runner-debug)** - With debug tools; based on `base_runner`
| **Check existing projects** | Browse [oss-fuzz/projects](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/tree/master/projects) for examples |
| **Keep harnesses in separate repo** | Like [curl-fuzzer](https://github.com/curl/curl-fuzzer) - cleaner organization |
| **Use specific compiler versions** | Base images provide consistent build environment |
| **Install dependencies in Dockerfile** | May require approval for OSS-Fuzz enrollment |
### Criticality Score
OSS-Fuzz uses a [criticality score](https://github.com/ossf/criticality_score) to evaluate project acceptance. See [this example](https://github.com/google/oss-fuzz/pull/11444#issuecomment-1875907472) for how scoring works.
Projects with lower scores may still be added to private OSS-Fuzz instances.
### Hosting Your Own Instance
Since OSS-Fuzz is open-source, you can host your own instance for:
- Private projects not eligible for public OSS-Fuzz
- Projects with lower criticality scores
- Custom fuzzing infrastructure needs
## Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Problem | Correct Approach |
|--------------|---------|------------------|
| **Manually pulling source in build.sh** | Doesn't use latest version | Let Dockerfile handle git clone |
| **Copying code to OSS-Fuzz repo** | Hard to maintain, violates separation | Reference external harness repo |
| **Ignoring base image versions** | Build inconsistencies | Use provided base images and compilers |
| **Skipping local testing** | Wastes CI resources | Use helper.py locally before PR |
