Project description
Better security foundations for all software-based systems
The instruction set architecture (ISA) of computers defines the way the central processing unit (CPU) is controlled by the software. State-of-the-art formalizations of the ISA do not explicitly specify the security properties guaranteed by that interface. As such, various micro-architectural cache side-channel attacks on the CPU can easily take place. The EU-funded UniversalContracts project will develop a new approach to specify ISA security properties. It will use universal contracts that can capture ISA-enforced upper bounds on the effects of arbitrary (even attacker-controlled) software. These contracts can be applied to general security primitives, mechanically verified against the ISA's operational semantics.
Objective
The Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) is the interface that processor hardware offers to software developers. Current ISAs do not explicitly specify the security properties guaranteed by that interface, so that, for example, recent severe micro-architectural side-channel vulnerabilities like Spectre did not even violate the specifications. This project proposes a fundamentally new approach to specify ISA security properties by using what we call universal contracts. These are formal contracts in a compositional program logic that automatically hold for arbitrary code. Such contracts capture ISA-enforced upper bounds on the effects of arbitrary (even attacker-controlled) software. While this approach is widely different from traditional specifications, the approach looks extremely promising: universal contracts can be applied to general security primitives, mechanically verified against the ISA's operational semantics and they make it possible to obtain full-system security proofs by manually verifying only the trusted code of a sytem.
In this project, we will contribute reusable techniques and tools for applying universal contracts in realistic ISAs. To this end, we will (1) design, prove and evaluate universal contracts for ISAs with state-of-practice security primitives, (2) develop semi-automation machinery for verifying universal contracts of ISAs, (3) extend universal contracts to deal with semantic complications like concurrency or micro-architectural side-channels and (4) design, implement and evaluate techniques which facilitate the construction of trusted software that relies on universal contracts, particularly assembly-level reasoning support and secure compilers. If successful, the project has the potential to fundamentally improve the security foundations of all software-based systems, by (1) clearly dividing the security responsibilities between hardware and software developers and (2) enabling scalable, rigorous, full-system security proofs.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-STG
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3000 Leuven
Belgium
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