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Bytecode Verification

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security

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Definition

Mechanism used by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to chek the Java Language typing rules on a client device. This algorithm includes type inference and fix point calculus.

Background

The bytecode verification algorithm for the JVM has been developed at Sun by Gosling and Yellin. It is based on a dataflow analysis performed by an abstract interpreter that executes JVM instruction over types instead of values. This verification is done at loading time that allows the interpreter to be executed without checks safely.

Applications

The byte code verification aims to enforce static security constraints on Java-based mobile code: the applet. Such a code can be downloaded and executed on a personal device running a browser. This popular model raises security issues concerning the access to personal information on the client side. To avoid it, Java uses a strong typed language associated to a sandbox model during applet execution.

The Java language is a strongly typed language. For...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Yellin F, Lindholm T (1996) The Java virtual machine specification. Addison Wesley

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  2. Lee P, Necula G (1997) Proof-carrying code. In 24th ACM SIGPLAN-SIGACT Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, pp 106–119, Paris

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  3. Rose KH, Rose E (1998) Lightweight bytecode verification. In Formal Underpinnings of Java, OOPSLA 98 Workshop, Vancouver, Canada

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. XLIM, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Limoges, 83 rue d’Isle, 87000, Limoges, France

    Jean-Louis Lanet

Authors
  1. Jean-Louis Lanet
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computing Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Henk C. A. van Tilborg

  2. Center for Secure Information Systems, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030-4422, USA

    Sushil Jajodia

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Lanet, JL. (2011). Bytecode Verification. In: van Tilborg, H.C.A., Jajodia, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5906-5_486

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