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STIMSMITH

Arithmetic Mutation

Concept

Arithmetic mutation is a fuzzing mutation strategy that adds or subtracts integer values from test inputs to discover new program behaviors. It is one of the notable mutation operators used by coverage-guided grey box fuzzers such as American Fuzzy Lop (AFL), alongside bitflip and havoc mutations.

First seen 8/8/2026
Last seen 8/8/2026
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WIKI

Arithmetic Mutation

Definition

Arithmetic mutation is a mutation operator used in coverage-guided fuzzing that adds or subtracts integers from bytes in a test input. It is one of several "interesting" mutations applied by grey box fuzzers to mutate test vectors in an attempt to discover new code paths and behaviors in the Software or Design Under Test.

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RELATIONSHIPS

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AFL ← uses 100% 1e
AFL uses arithmetic mutations as one of its mutation strategies.

CITATIONS

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4 citations — click to collapse
[1] Arithmetic mutation adds or subtracts integers to bytes in the input as part of fuzzing. Efficient Cross-Level Processor Verification using Coverage-guided Fuzzing
[2] AFL is an out-of-process coverage-guided grey box fuzzer that uses bitflip, arithmetic, and havoc mutations. Efficient Cross-Level Processor Verification using Coverage-guided Fuzzing
[3] AFL's trim mutation reduces test vector size without changing measured coverage before applying mutations such as arithmetic mutation. Efficient Cross-Level Processor Verification using Coverage-guided Fuzzing
[4] Arithmetic mutation enables AFL to robustly mutate binary instructions without requiring a bus-centric grammar. Efficient Cross-Level Processor Verification using Coverage-guided Fuzzing