Secure resource management: Specifying and testing secure operating systems
- California Univ., Davis, CA (USA). Div. of Computer Science
Much work has been devoted to methods for reasoning about the specifications of operating system specifications, the goal being to develop specifications for an operating system that are verified to be secure. Before the verification should be attempted, the specifications should be tested. This paper presents tools that can assist in the security testing of specifications. The first tool is based on the final Algebra Specification and Execution (FASE) system, and would be used to test specifications with real input values. FASE is an executable specification language which is operational in style, in which entities are represented in terms of their observable behavior. To facilitate the testing of an operating system (and its specification), use FASE we have specified a Secure Resource Manager (SRM), a generic template of an operating system. The SRM specification can be specialized to a specification of a particular operating system; the SRM is quite general and handles most features of modern nondistributed operating systems. The second tool, called the PLANNER, is used to derive a sequence of operations that exhibits a security flaw, most often a covert channel for information flow. The PLANNER is based on classical methods of AI planning, specialized to achieve goals concerned with information flow. The tools are demonstrated with respect to a simple operating system specification develop by Millen.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); California Univ., Davis, CA (USA). Div. of Computer Science
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE/DP
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6023693
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-CR-105098; ON: DE91007138
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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