Symbolic Execution

Symbolic execution is a program analysis technique that executes programs using symbolic (non-concrete) values instead of actual inputs, tracking how symbolic values flow through the program. Introduced by James C. King in 1976, symbolic execution builds mathematical constraints on program variables and can determine which inputs cause specific program behaviors, enabling automatic test generation and vulnerability detection. Modern symbolic execution tools like KLEE, S2E, and Z3 have become powerful instruments for finding subtle bugs and security vulnerabilities.