A verified messaging system

Abstract

We present a concurrent-read exclusive-write buffer system with strong correctness and security properties. Our motivating application for this system is the distribution of sensor values in a multicomponent vehicle-control system, where some components are unverified and possibly malicious, and other components are vehicle-control-critical and must be verified. Valid participants are guaranteed correct communication (i.e., the writer is always able to write to an unused buffer, and readers always read the most recently published value), while invalid readers or writers cannot compromise the correctness or liveness of valid participants. There is only one writer, all operations are wait-free, and there is no extra process or thread mediating communication. We prove the correctness of the system with valid participants by formally verifying a C implementation of the system in Coq, using the Verified Software Toolchain extended with an atomic exchange operation. The result is the first C-level mechanized verification of a nonblocking communication protocol.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Oct 12, 2017
Source ID
10.1145/3133911

Entities

People

  • Aleksey Nogin
  • Andrew Appel
  • William Mansky

Organizations

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Intel Corporation
  • National Science Foundation
  • Princeton University
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computational Linguistics
  • Parallel and Distributed Computing.
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.