Reverse Engineering · Adeptus Cyber Solutions
Reverse Engineering:
Software & Integrated Systems.
Vulnerability research and reverse engineering (VR/RE) for systems with incomplete, outdated, or missing documentation. ACS personnel characterize functionality, interfaces, dependencies, security weaknesses, and potential exploitation paths from the system itself.
ACS’s VR/RE lane is software and integrated systems: binaries, file formats, protocols, mobile applications, and the configuration and policy of fielded systems.
ProvenanceReverse engineering grounded in high-assurance security assessment.ACS personnel applied reverse engineering while supporting policy bypass testing of cross-domain solutions at ITEC at AFRL Rome under contract through defense prime contractors. The work required them to characterize how high-assurance controls interpreted file formats and network protocols, then compare observed behavior with specifications and expected policy enforcement. ACS applies that discipline to systems clients need characterized: use documentation as context, then validate it against the artifact and the fielded implementation. The full cross-domain foundation is described on the Expertise page. |
How ACS Approaches RE
✓ Evidence over assumption: conclusions traced to what the artifact demonstrates |
Capabilities
Four kinds of reverse engineering.
Many reverse engineering engagements focus on binary analysis. For inherited, integrated, or fielded systems, file formats, interfaces, configuration, and policy can be equally important. Across all four pillars, the objective is the same: characterize what the system does, then identify where it is weak.
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PILLAR 01 File Format & Data Structure AnalysisDeep analysis of file formats and the structures inside them, including imagery formats, NITF, office document formats, and container and compound formats that carry data in places a parser is not required to examine. ACS personnel have served as principal investigators and developers for offensive cyber test tooling that generated steganographic test data. That work required them to identify differences between how a format is specified, how data can be represented within it, and how an inspecting control interprets the result. The assessment value lies in demonstrating those differences and documenting the resulting security impact. |
PILLAR 02 Protocol & Interface AnalysisCharacterization of how systems communicate: TCP and UDP behavior, application-layer protocols, message structure and state, and undocumented or partially documented APIs. Includes Cursor on Target and other mission-oriented machine-to-machine interfaces. Where an interface has no current documentation, ACS produces it: a protocol or API description accurate enough to build against, test against, or assess against. |
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PILLAR 03 Binary & Software Reverse EngineeringAnalysis of compiled software where source is unavailable: disassembly and decompilation, static and dynamic analysis, control and data flow reconstruction, dependency and library mapping, and identification of exploitable weakness in the implementation rather than the design. This is where reverse engineering supports vulnerability research. Establishing what a binary does is the prerequisite; identifying where its implementation diverges from safe behavior produces the security finding. When authorized and technically feasible, ACS personnel carry the analysis from functional description through validation of exploitable weakness. |
PILLAR 04 System & Integration Reverse EngineeringReconstructing how a fielded, integrated system was assembled and enforced. This pillar is especially relevant when a program inherits a system that was never fully documented. This includes recovering the security posture from the system itself: SELinux policy and module analysis, security contexts and labeling, enforcement behavior, and denial traces that reveal what the system was built to permit and prevent. A system’s policy is a written record of its designers’ intent, and reading it is often the fastest route to understanding a deployment that no current staff member can fully explain. |
MobileExperience building mobile extensions informs how we assess them.ACS personnel have developed ATAK plugins against a platform API with sparse public documentation. That work required analyzing the platform to understand it, experience that transfers directly to mobile application reverse engineering. For programs fielding mobile applications from mixed sources, plugin and application provenance is a real security question. ACS can tell you what an application does, rather than what its description claims. |
Mobile RE Coverage
→ Application package teardown and decompilation |
Deliverables
Analysis you can act on.
Reverse engineering is most useful when it changes what a client can do. Each reverse engineering engagement produces documentation written for a defined downstream purpose.
System & Component Analysis ReportEstablishes functionality and behavior for programs assuming ownership of an inherited or acquired system. |
Interface & Protocol DocumentationEnables integration, test harness development, and independent verification against a real interface. |
Dependency & Component MappingSupports supply chain review, license and component inventory, and impact analysis before modification. |
Security Findings & Exploitation VectorsFeeds vulnerability assessment, red team planning, and remediation prioritization. |
Configuration & Enforcement AnalysisDocuments how a fielded system is configured and enforced, including policy-level posture. |
When To Bring ACS In
Four situations that call for analysis.
Inherit or Acquire a SystemEstablish how software, components, and enforcement mechanisms work before assuming ownership or accepting risk. |
Reconstruct an InterfaceProduce protocol or API documentation sufficient for integration, test-harness development, or independent verification. |
Investigate Implementation RiskTrace security behavior through binaries, mobile applications, dependencies, configuration, and policy. |
Own a VR/RE Work PackageProvide scope, analysis, and deliverables inside a larger program while teaming with hardware, firmware, or embedded specialists when required. |
Related Capability
Analysis feeds what comes next.
Red TeamingUse system characterization to inform authorized offensive assessment. |
Test & EvaluationPlace analysis inside a planned, traceable evaluation process. |
Get Started
Need to understand an underdocumented system?
Tell us what you need to understand and why: integration, assessment, acquisition, or incident follow-up. ACS will scope the analysis and tell you plainly what it can and cannot determine.