{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4412837195","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3591791","title":"Improving Co-Decoding Based Security Hardening of Code LLMs Leveraging Knowledge Distillation","display_name":"Improving Co-Decoding Based Security Hardening of Code LLMs Leveraging Knowledge Distillation","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-08-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4412837195","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3591791"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tse.2025.3591791","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3591791","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S8351582","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","issn_l":"0098-5589","issn":["0098-5589","1939-3520","2326-3881"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320439","host_organization_name":"IEEE Computer Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320439","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Computer Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/10944","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5092001899","display_name":"Dong Li","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2032-2015"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I158842170","display_name":"Chongqing University","ror":"https://ror.org/023rhb549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Dong Li","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2032-2015","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Shanfu Shu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9927-5726"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I158842170","display_name":"Chongqing University","ror":"https://ror.org/023rhb549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Shanfu Shu","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9927-5726","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5070783668","display_name":"Meng Yan","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9538-9121"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I158842170","display_name":"Chongqing University","ror":"https://ror.org/023rhb549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Meng Yan","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9538-9121","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5102825823","display_name":"Zhongxin Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1981-1626"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I76130692","display_name":"Zhejiang University","ror":"https://ror.org/00a2xv884","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhongxin Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China","State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1981-1626","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I76130692"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101600108","display_name":"Chao Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8283-9146"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I158842170","display_name":"Chongqing University","ror":"https://ror.org/023rhb549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Chao Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8283-9146","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100330109","display_name":"Xiaohong Zhang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1767-9342"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I158842170","display_name":"Chongqing University","ror":"https://ror.org/023rhb549","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xiaohong Zhang","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1767-9342","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Big Data and Software Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I158842170"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5081036622","display_name":"David Lo","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4367-7201"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I79891267","display_name":"Singapore Management University","ror":"https://ror.org/050qmg959","country_code":"SG","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79891267"]}],"countries":["SG"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"David Lo","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4367-7201","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79891267"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":3,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":6.08,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":3,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.9619347,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":91,"max":98},"biblio":{"volume":"51","issue":"9","first_page":"2634","last_page":"2650"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11614","display_name":"Cloud Data Security Solutions","score":0.885200023651123,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11614","display_name":"Cloud Data Security Solutions","score":0.885200023651123,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11181","display_name":"Advanced Data Storage Technologies","score":0.8495000004768372,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11424","display_name":"Security and Verification in Computing","score":0.7742999792098999,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.8105106353759766},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/decoding-methods","display_name":"Decoding methods","score":0.6056603193283081},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code","display_name":"Code (set theory)","score":0.48739081621170044},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/hardening","display_name":"Hardening (computing)","score":0.4135081470012665},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-security","display_name":"Computer security","score":0.3972460925579071},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/programming-language","display_name":"Programming language","score":0.2819719910621643},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/algorithm","display_name":"Algorithm","score":0.11771506071090698}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.8105106353759766},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C57273362","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q576722","display_name":"Decoding methods","level":2,"score":0.6056603193283081},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776760102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5139990","display_name":"Code (set theory)","level":3,"score":0.48739081621170044},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C44255700","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q978423","display_name":"Hardening (computing)","level":3,"score":0.4135081470012665},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.3972460925579071},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199360897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143","display_name":"Programming language","level":1,"score":0.2819719910621643},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C11413529","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8366","display_name":"Algorithm","level":1,"score":0.11771506071090698},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177264268","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1514741","display_name":"Set (abstract data type)","level":2,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C185592680","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2329","display_name":"Chemistry","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C178790620","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11351","display_name":"Organic chemistry","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779227376","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6505497","display_name":"Layer (electronics)","level":2,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tse.2025.3591791","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tse.2025.3591791","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S8351582","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","issn_l":"0098-5589","issn":["0098-5589","1939-3520","2326-3881"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320439","host_organization_name":"IEEE Computer Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320439","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Computer Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:ink.library.smu.edu.sg:sis_research-11946","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/10944","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401925","display_name":"Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge (InK) (Singapore Management University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I79891267","host_organization_name":"Singapore Management University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79891267"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"other-oa","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/other-oa","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2025.3591791","raw_type":"Journal Article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:ink.library.smu.edu.sg:sis_research-11946","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/10944","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401925","display_name":"Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge (InK) (Singapore Management University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I79891267","host_organization_name":"Singapore Management University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79891267"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"other-oa","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/other-oa","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2025.3591791","raw_type":"Journal Article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":24,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W3166095789","https://openalex.org/W3176618728","https://openalex.org/W3198685994","https://openalex.org/W4252326246","https://openalex.org/W4285294723","https://openalex.org/W4288057765","https://openalex.org/W4320560161","https://openalex.org/W4384345739","https://openalex.org/W4385562549","https://openalex.org/W4385570255","https://openalex.org/W4385571219","https://openalex.org/W4385572263","https://openalex.org/W4385884967","https://openalex.org/W4387321091","https://openalex.org/W4389519352","https://openalex.org/W4389520771","https://openalex.org/W4391307510","https://openalex.org/W4400680805","https://openalex.org/W4402457779","https://openalex.org/W4403536889","https://openalex.org/W4404782801","https://openalex.org/W4407392582","https://openalex.org/W4411630326","https://openalex.org/W4414281281"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4391375266","https://openalex.org/W2899084033","https://openalex.org/W2748952813","https://openalex.org/W2390279801","https://openalex.org/W4391913857","https://openalex.org/W2358668433","https://openalex.org/W4396701345","https://openalex.org/W2376932109","https://openalex.org/W1968289971","https://openalex.org/W4300588357"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Large":[0],"Language":[1],"Models":[2],"(LLMs)":[3],"have":[4,33,116,304],"been":[5],"widely":[6],"adopted":[7],"by":[8,155],"developers":[9],"in":[10,137,275,308,327,350],"software":[11,58],"development.":[12],"However,":[13,84],"the":[14,57,82,97,112,117,127,147,189,197,200,205,224,228,250,256,261,266,282,295,299,319,329,335,363,367],"massive":[15],"pretraining":[16],"code":[17,36,41,150,310],"data":[18,71],"is":[19,88,179,325],"not":[20],"rigorously":[21],"filtered,":[22],"allowing":[23],"LLMs":[24,37,151,311],"to":[25,39,56,63,122,145,187,265,286,347,375],"learn":[26],"unsafe":[27],"coding":[28],"patterns.":[29],"Several":[30],"prior":[31],"studies":[32],"demonstrated":[34],"that":[35,72,177,269,322,341],"tend":[38],"generate":[40,287],"with":[42,111,152,231,260],"potential":[43],"vulnerabilities.":[44],"The":[45,337],"widespread":[46],"adoption":[47],"of":[48,75,149,192,199,215,227,298,334,354,366,373,379],"intelligent":[49],"programming":[50],"assistants":[51],"poses":[52],"a":[53,166,211,270,345],"significant":[54,93],"threat":[55],"development":[59],"process.":[60],"Existing":[61],"approaches":[62],"mitigating":[64],"this":[65,135],"risk":[66],"primarily":[67],"involve":[68],"constructing":[69],"secure":[70,276,289],"are":[73,100],"free":[74],"vulnerabilities":[76],"and":[77,91,159,195,246,277,316,318,332,358],"then":[78],"retraining":[79],"or":[80,108],"fine-tuning":[81],"models.":[83,336,381],"such":[85],"an":[86,143,157,239],"effort":[87],"resource":[89],"intensive":[90],"requires":[92],"manual":[94],"supervision.":[95],"When":[96],"model":[98,164,252,273,285],"parameters":[99,154],"too":[101],"large":[102],"(e.g.,":[103,121],"more":[104,288],"than":[105],"1":[106],"billion)":[107],"multiple":[109],"models":[110,353],"same":[113,118],"parameter":[114,356],"scale":[115],"optimization":[119],"needs":[120],"avoid":[123],"outputting":[124],"vulnerable":[125],"code),":[126],"above":[128,206],"work":[129],"will":[130],"become":[131],"unaffordable.":[132],"To":[133,203],"address":[134,204],"challenge,":[136],"previous":[138],"work,":[139],"we":[140,175,208],"proposed":[141],"CoSec,":[142],"approach":[144,324],"improve":[146],"security":[148,163,198,229,244,251,272,333,351],"different":[153],"utilizing":[156],"independent":[158],"very":[160],"small":[161],"parametric":[162],"as":[165,292],"decoding":[167],"navigator.":[168],"<p":[169],"xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"":[170],"xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\">Despite":[171],"CoSec\u2019s":[172],"excellent":[173],"performance,":[174],"found":[176],"there":[178],"still":[180],"room":[181],"for":[182,377],"improving:":[183],"1)":[184,218],"its":[185],"ability":[186],"maintain":[188],"functional":[190,225,296,330,364],"correctness":[191,226,297,331,365],"hardened":[193],"targets,":[194],"2)":[196,234],"generated":[201],"code.":[202],"issues,":[207],"propose":[209],"CoSec+,":[210],"hardening":[212],"framework":[213],"consisting":[214],"three":[216],"phases:":[217],"Functional":[219],"Correctness":[220],"Alignment,":[221],"which":[222,237],"improves":[223,294],"base":[230,284,301,369],"knowledge":[232],"disstillation;":[233],"Security":[235],"Training,":[236],"yields":[238],"independent,":[240],"but":[241],"much":[242],"smaller":[243],"model;":[245],"3)":[247],"Co-decoding,":[248],"where":[249],"iteratively":[253],"reasons":[254],"about":[255],"next":[257],"token":[258],"along":[259],"target":[262,283,300,368],"model.":[263,302],"Due":[264],"higher":[267],"confidence":[268],"well-trained":[271],"places":[274],"correct":[278],"tokens,":[279],"it":[280,293,361],"guides":[281],"code,":[290],"even":[291],"We":[303],"conducted":[305],"extensive":[306],"experiments":[307],"several":[309],"(i.e.,":[312],"CodeGen,":[313],"StarCoderBase,":[314],"DeepSeekCoder":[315],"Qwen2.5-Coder),":[317],"results":[320,339],"show":[321,340],"our":[323],"effective":[326],"improving":[328],"evaluation":[338],"CoSec+":[342],"can":[343],"deliver":[344],"0.8%":[346],"37.7%":[348],"improvement":[349],"across":[352],"various":[355],"sizes":[357],"families;":[359],"moreover,":[360],"preserves":[362],"models\u2014achieving":[370],"functional-correctness":[371],"gains":[372],"0.7%":[374],"51.1%":[376],"most":[378],"those":[380]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":2},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2025-11-06T03:46:38.306776","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}