Secure multi-party test case data generation through generative adversarial networks

In the current landscape of software testing, challenges persist in test case data generation, including variability in data quality and the inherent difficulty of data synthesis. These challenges are further exacerbated in scenarios where data are widely distributed across heterogeneous organizational environments. Privacy regulations and security concerns impose strict constraints on data sharing, preventing centralized data aggregation and highlighting the necessity of a federated environment as a more practical solution. To address the privacy protection and data sharing challenges in federated test case data generation, we propose a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)-based method specifically designed for federated settings. By leveraging the strong data generation capabilities of GANs, the proposed approach is able to generate high-quality and diverse test case data while preserving data privacy. Specifically, through a protocol grammar-based deep learning framework combined with test case encoder-decoder encoding mechanisms and a GAN-driven sample character generator, the proposed method can predict and generate variant test case samples. In the federated environment, each participant trains the generator and discriminator locally, while model parameters are securely aggregated to achieve global model optimization. Experimental results demonstrate that the generated test case data outperforms traditional methods in terms of coverage and effectiveness, significantly enhancing the efficiency and quality of software testing. Ultimately, the proposed framework provides a scalable solution for identifying latent vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure while strictly adhering to data sovereignty requirements in cross-organizational environments.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Reports
Published
2026-01-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35773-2
Primary Topic
Software Testing and Debugging Techniques
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Secure multi-party test case data generation through generative adversarial networks

Fanyin Meng, Liutao Zhao, Zheng Wang, Yiqing Lu et al.
Scientific Reports
Software Testing and Debugging Techniques
article

Secure multi-party test case data generation through generative adversarial networks

Fanyin Meng, Liutao Zhao, Zheng Wang, Yiqing Lu, Zhongshan Zhu
article en

Abstract

In the current landscape of software testing, challenges persist in test case data generation, including variability in data quality and the inherent difficulty of data synthesis. These challenges are further exacerbated in scenarios where data are widely distributed across heterogeneous organizational environments. Privacy regulations and security concerns impose strict constraints on data sharing, preventing centralized data aggregation and highlighting the necessity of a federated environment as a more practical solution. To address the privacy protection and data sharing challenges in federated test case data generation, we propose a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)-based method specifically designed for federated settings. By leveraging the strong data generation capabilities of GANs, the proposed approach is able to generate high-quality and diverse test case data while preserving data privacy. Specifically, through a protocol grammar-based deep learning framework combined with test case encoder-decoder encoding mechanisms and a GAN-driven sample character generator, the proposed method can predict and generate variant test case samples. In the federated environment, each participant trains the generator and discriminator locally, while model parameters are securely aggregated to achieve global model optimization. Experimental results demonstrate that the generated test case data outperforms traditional methods in terms of coverage and effectiveness, significantly enhancing the efficiency and quality of software testing. Ultimately, the proposed framework provides a scalable solution for identifying latent vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure while strictly adhering to data sovereignty requirements in cross-organizational environments.

Scientific ReportsVol. 16(1)
Ministry of Ecology and Environment (CN), Beijing Computing Center (CN), Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute (CN), Beijing Academy of Science and Technology (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 92%
Software Testing and Debugging Techniques
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Secure multi-party test case data generation through generative adversarial networks — Fanyin Meng, Liutao Zhao, et al. · Scientific Reports (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS