Size does matter: why using gadget-chain length to prevent code-reuse attacks is hard

Code-reuse attacks based on return oriented programming are among the most popular exploitation techniques used by attackers today. Few practical defenses are able to stop such attacks on arbitrary binaries without access to source code. A notable exception are the techniques that employ new hardware, such as Intel's Last Branch Record (LBR) registers, to track all indirect branches and raise an alert when a sensitive system call is reached by...