Growing security requirements for systems and applications have raised the stakes on software sec... more Growing security requirements for systems and applications have raised the stakes on software security verification techniques. Recently, model-checking is settling in the arena of software verification. It is effective in verifying high-level security properties related to software functionalities. In this paper, we present the experiments conducted with our security verification framework based on model-checking. We embedded a wide range of the CERT secure coding rules into our framework. Then, we verified real software packages against these rules for purpose of demonstrating the capability and the efficiency of our tool in detecting real errors.
In this paper, we present a novel approach that establishes a synergy between static and dynamic ... more In this paper, we present a novel approach that establishes a synergy between static and dynamic analyses for detecting memory errors in C code. We extend the standard C type system with effect, region, and host annotations that are relevant to memory management. We define static memory checks to detect memory errors using these annotations. The statically undecidable checks are delegated to dynamic code instrumentation to secure program executions. The static analysis guides its dynamic counterpart by locating instrumentation points and their execution paths. Our dynamic analysis instruments programs with in-lined monitors that observe program executions and ensure safe-fail when encountering memory errors. We prototype our approach by extending the GCC compiler with our type system, a dynamic monitoring library, and code instrumentation capabilities.
A novel flow-sensitive type and effect analysis for securing C code
In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting type cast errors and mem... more In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting type cast errors and memory errors in C source code. Our approach involves a type system with effect, region, and cast history annotations that hold valuable information for ensuring memory safety. The cast history is a precise type decoration we define to address C type casting issues. Our flow-sensitive annotations are allowed to change from one program point to another in order to efficiently tackle temporal errors. We also define a recursive algorithm based on alias information to deal with C aliasing pitfalls and to improve the precision of our analysis. We endow our type system with static security checks that use our annotations to verify and enforce security properties. The effects generated during the type analysis provide an interface that outputs undecidable Dunno points that need runtime information for safety checking. This interface can be used to communicate with dynamic analysis approaches in order to overcome static analysis limitations.
Recently, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has emerged as an alternative to Commercial-Off-Th... more Recently, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has emerged as an alternative to Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software. Now, FOSS is perceived as a viable long-term solution that deserves careful consideration because of its potential for significant cost savings, improved reliability, and numerous advantages over proprietary software. However, the secure integration of FOSS in IT infrastructures is very challenging and demanding. Methodologies and technical policies must be adapted to reliably compose large FOSS-based software systems. A DRDC Valcartier-Concordia University feasibility study completed in March 2004 concluded that the most promising approach for securing FOSS is to combine advanced design patterns and Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP). Following the recommendations of this study a three years project have been conducted as a collaboration between Concordia University, DRDC Valcartier, and Bell Canada. This paper aims at presenting the main contributions of this project. It consists of a practical framework with the underlying solid semantic foundations for the security evaluation and hardening of FOSS.
In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting memory errors in C sourc... more In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting memory errors in C source code. We extend the standard C type system with effect, region, and host annotations that hold valuable security information. We define static security checks to detect errors using the annotations. The checks are compliant with the ANSI-C standard, while adding more security restrictions to prevent runtime errors. The flow-sensitivity nature of our analysis enables us to modify type annotations at each program point and to efficiently detect temporal errors. Moreover, we endow our type system with alias information to deal with C aliasing pitfalls and to improve the precision of our analysis. We present an inference algorithm that automatically infers type annotations and applies security checks without programmer's intervention.
The explicit memory management and type conversion endow the C language with flexibility and perf... more The explicit memory management and type conversion endow the C language with flexibility and performance that render it the de facto language for system programming. However, these appealing features come at the cost of programs’ safety. Due to the C language permissiveness, highly skilled but inadvertent programmers often spawn insidious programming errors that yield exploitable code. In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting memory and type errors in C source code. We extend the standard C type system with effect, region, and host annotations that hold valuable safety information. We also define static safety checks to detect safety errors using the aforementioned annotations. Our analysis performs in an intraprocedural phase and an interprocedural phase. The flow-sensitive and alias-sensitive intraprocedural phase propagates type annotations and applies safety checks at each program point. The interprocedural phase generates and propagates unification constraints on type annotations across function boundaries. We present an inference algorithm that automatically infers type annotations and applies safety checks to programs without programmers’ interaction.
In this paper we develop a security verification framework for open source software with a multi-... more In this paper we develop a security verification framework for open source software with a multi-language support. We base our approach on the GCC compiler which is considered as the defacto open source compiler for several languages including C, C++, JAVA, ADA, FORTRAN, etc. To achieve our goal we use a conventional push down system model-checker for reachability properties, and turn it into a fully fledged verification tool for both low and high level software security properties. We also allow programmers to define a wide range of temporal security properties using an automata-based specification approach. As a result, our approach can model-check large scale software against system-specific security properties.
Growing security requirements for systems and applications have raised the stakes on software sec... more Growing security requirements for systems and applications have raised the stakes on software security verification techniques. Recently, model-checking is settling in the arena of software verification. It is effective in verifying high-level security properties related to software functionalities. In this paper, we present the experiments conducted with our security verification framework based on model-checking. We embedded a wide range of the CERT secure coding rules into our framework. Then, we verified real software packages against these rules for purpose of demonstrating the capability and the efficiency of our tool in detecting real errors.
In this paper, we present a novel approach that establishes a synergy between static and dynamic ... more In this paper, we present a novel approach that establishes a synergy between static and dynamic analyses for detecting memory errors in C code. We extend the standard C type system with effect, region, and host annotations that are relevant to memory management. We define static memory checks to detect memory errors using these annotations. The statically undecidable checks are delegated to dynamic code instrumentation to secure program executions. The static analysis guides its dynamic counterpart by locating instrumentation points and their execution paths. Our dynamic analysis instruments programs with in-lined monitors that observe program executions and ensure safe-fail when encountering memory errors. We prototype our approach by extending the GCC compiler with our type system, a dynamic monitoring library, and code instrumentation capabilities.
A novel flow-sensitive type and effect analysis for securing C code
In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting type cast errors and mem... more In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting type cast errors and memory errors in C source code. Our approach involves a type system with effect, region, and cast history annotations that hold valuable information for ensuring memory safety. The cast history is a precise type decoration we define to address C type casting issues. Our flow-sensitive annotations are allowed to change from one program point to another in order to efficiently tackle temporal errors. We also define a recursive algorithm based on alias information to deal with C aliasing pitfalls and to improve the precision of our analysis. We endow our type system with static security checks that use our annotations to verify and enforce security properties. The effects generated during the type analysis provide an interface that outputs undecidable Dunno points that need runtime information for safety checking. This interface can be used to communicate with dynamic analysis approaches in order to overcome static analysis limitations.
Recently, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has emerged as an alternative to Commercial-Off-Th... more Recently, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has emerged as an alternative to Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software. Now, FOSS is perceived as a viable long-term solution that deserves careful consideration because of its potential for significant cost savings, improved reliability, and numerous advantages over proprietary software. However, the secure integration of FOSS in IT infrastructures is very challenging and demanding. Methodologies and technical policies must be adapted to reliably compose large FOSS-based software systems. A DRDC Valcartier-Concordia University feasibility study completed in March 2004 concluded that the most promising approach for securing FOSS is to combine advanced design patterns and Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP). Following the recommendations of this study a three years project have been conducted as a collaboration between Concordia University, DRDC Valcartier, and Bell Canada. This paper aims at presenting the main contributions of this project. It consists of a practical framework with the underlying solid semantic foundations for the security evaluation and hardening of FOSS.
In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting memory errors in C sourc... more In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting memory errors in C source code. We extend the standard C type system with effect, region, and host annotations that hold valuable security information. We define static security checks to detect errors using the annotations. The checks are compliant with the ANSI-C standard, while adding more security restrictions to prevent runtime errors. The flow-sensitivity nature of our analysis enables us to modify type annotations at each program point and to efficiently detect temporal errors. Moreover, we endow our type system with alias information to deal with C aliasing pitfalls and to improve the precision of our analysis. We present an inference algorithm that automatically infers type annotations and applies security checks without programmer's intervention.
The explicit memory management and type conversion endow the C language with flexibility and perf... more The explicit memory management and type conversion endow the C language with flexibility and performance that render it the de facto language for system programming. However, these appealing features come at the cost of programs’ safety. Due to the C language permissiveness, highly skilled but inadvertent programmers often spawn insidious programming errors that yield exploitable code. In this paper, we present a novel type and effect analysis for detecting memory and type errors in C source code. We extend the standard C type system with effect, region, and host annotations that hold valuable safety information. We also define static safety checks to detect safety errors using the aforementioned annotations. Our analysis performs in an intraprocedural phase and an interprocedural phase. The flow-sensitive and alias-sensitive intraprocedural phase propagates type annotations and applies safety checks at each program point. The interprocedural phase generates and propagates unification constraints on type annotations across function boundaries. We present an inference algorithm that automatically infers type annotations and applies safety checks to programs without programmers’ interaction.
In this paper we develop a security verification framework for open source software with a multi-... more In this paper we develop a security verification framework for open source software with a multi-language support. We base our approach on the GCC compiler which is considered as the defacto open source compiler for several languages including C, C++, JAVA, ADA, FORTRAN, etc. To achieve our goal we use a conventional push down system model-checker for reachability properties, and turn it into a fully fledged verification tool for both low and high level software security properties. We also allow programmers to define a wide range of temporal security properties using an automata-based specification approach. As a result, our approach can model-check large scale software against system-specific security properties.
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