Work

Synthesizing safe and efficient kernel extensions for packet processing

Year: 2021

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: Extended Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) has emerged as a powerful method to extend packet-processing functionality in the Linux operating system. BPF allows users to write code in high-level languages (like C or Rust) and execute them at specific hooks in the kernel, such as the network device driver. To ensure safe execution of a user-developed BPF program in kernel context, Linux uses an in-kernel static checker. The checker allows a program to execute only if it can prove that the program is crash-free, always accesses memory within safe bounds, and avoids leaking kernel data.

Source: ACM SIGCOMM Conference (SIGCOMM)

DOI: 10.1145/3452296.3472929

Authors: Qiongwen Xu, Michael D. Wong, Tanvi Wagle, Srinivas Narayana, Anirudh Sivaraman

Institutions: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Princeton University, New York University

Language: English

Topic: Security and Verification in Computing

Subfield: Hardware and Architecture

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Science Foundation

Awards: CNS Core: Small: Autogenerating fast packet-processing code using program synthesis, CNS Core: Small: Democratizing Network Hardware Offloads