DocumentCode :
34084
Title :
Securing Class Initialization in Java-like Languages
Author :
Rafnsson, Willard ; Nakata, Keiko ; Sabelfeld, Andrei
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci. & Eng., Chalmers Univ. of Technol., Gothenburg, Sweden
Volume :
10
Issue :
1
fYear :
2013
fDate :
Jan.-Feb. 2013
Firstpage :
1
Lastpage :
13
Abstract :
Language-based information-flow security is concerned with specifying and enforcing security policies for information flow via language constructs. Although much progress has been made on understanding information flow in object-oriented programs, little attention has been given to the impact of class initialization on information flow. This paper turns the spotlight on security implications of class initialization. We reveal the subtleties of information propagation when classes are initialized, and demonstrate how these flows can be exploited to leak information through error recovery. Our main contribution is a type-and-effect system which tracks these information flows. The type system is parameterized by an arbitrary lattice of security levels. Flows through the class hierarchy and dependencies in field initializers are tracked by typing class initializers wherever they could be executed. The contexts in which each class can be initialized are tracked to prevent insecure flows of out-of-scope contextual information through class initialization statuses and error recovery. We show that the type system enforces termination-insensitive noninterference.
Keywords :
Java; formal specification; object-oriented programming; program diagnostics; program verification; security of data; system recovery; Java-like languages; class dependencies; class hierarchy; class initialization security; error recovery; information propagation; language constructs; language-based information-flow security; object-oriented programs; program analysis; security policy enforcement; security policy specification; termination-insensitive noninterference; type-and-effect system; Context; Java; Lattices; Loading; Security; Semantics; Syntactics; Information flow control; program analysis;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Dependable and Secure Computing, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
1545-5971
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/TDSC.2012.73
Filename :
6275445
Link To Document :
بازگشت