Abstract
Security API analysis typically only considers a subset of an API’s functions, with results bounded by the number of function calls. Furthermore, attacks involving partial leakage of sensitive information are usually not covered.
Type-based static analysis has the potential to alleviate these shortcomings. To that end, we present a type system for secure information flow based upon the one of Volpano, Smith and Irvine [1], extended with types for cryptographic keys and ciphertext similar to those in Sumii and Pierce [2]. In contrast to some other type systems, the encryption and decryption of keys does not require special treatment.
We show that a well-typed sequence of commands is non-interferent, based upon a definition of indistinguishability where, in certain circumstances, the adversary can distinguish between ciphertexts that correspond to encrypted public data.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Volpano, D.M., Smith, G., Irvine, C.E.: A Sound Type System for Secure Flow Analysis. Journal of Computer Security 4(3), 167–187 (1996)
Sumii, E., Pierce, B.C.: Logical Relations for Encryption. In: Proceedings of the 14th IEEE Computer Security Foundations Workshop (CSFW-14 2001), pp. 256–269. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos (2001)
IBM 4758 PCI Cryptographic Coprocessor, http://www-03.ibm.com/security/cryptocards/pcicc/overview.shtml
nCipher nShield Hardware Security Module, http://www.ncipher.com/en/Products/Hardware%20Security%20Modules/nShield.aspx
Cortier, V., Keighren, G., Steel, G.: Automatic Analysis of the Security of XOR-Based Key Management Schemes. In: Grumberg, O., Huth, M. (eds.) TACAS 2007. LNCS, vol. 4424, pp. 538–552. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Courant, J., Monin, J.F.: Defending the Bank with a Proof Assistant. In: Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Issues in the Theory of Security (WITS 2006), pp. 87–98 (2006)
Delaune, S., Kremer, S., Steel, G.: Formal Analysis of PKCS #11. In: [19], pp. 331–344
Youn, P.: The Analysis of Cryptographic APIs using the Theorem Prover Otter. Master’s thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (May 2004)
Youn, P., Adida, B., Bond, M.K., Clulow, J., Herzog, J., Lin, A., Rivest, R.L., Anderson, R.J.: Robbing the Bank with a Theorem Prover. Technical Report 644, University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory (August 2005)
Abadi, M., Rogaway, P.: Reconciling Two Views of Cryptography (The Computational Soundness of Formal Encryption). In: Watanabe, O., Hagiya, M., Ito, T., van Leeuwen, J., Mosses, P.D. (eds.) TCS 2000. LNCS, vol. 1872, pp. 3–22. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)
Clulow, J.S.: On the Security of PKCS #11. In: Walter, C.D., Koç, Ç.K., Paar, C. (eds.) CHES 2003. LNCS, vol. 2779, pp. 411–425. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Vaughan, J.A., Zdancewic, S.: A Cryptographic Decentralized Label Model. In: Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, pp. 192–206. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos (2007)
Laud, P.: Handling Encryption in an Analysis for Secure Information Flow. In: Degano, P. (ed.) ESOP 2003. LNCS, vol. 2618, pp. 159–173. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Focardi, R., Centenaro, M.: Information Flow Security of Multi-threaded Distributed Programs. In: Proceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGPLAN Workshop on Programming Languages and Analysis for Security (PLAS 2008), pp. 113–124. ACM Press, New York (2008)
Bengtson, J., Bhargavan, K., Fournet, C., Gordon, A.D., Maffeis, S.: Refinement Types for Secure Implementations. In: [19], pp. 17–32
Abadi, M.: Secrecy by Typing in Security Protocols. In: Ito, T., Abadi, M. (eds.) TACS 1997. LNCS, vol. 1281, pp. 611–638. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)
Laud, P., Vene, V.: A Type System for Computationally Secure Information Flow. In: Liśkiewicz, M., Reischuk, R. (eds.) FCT 2005. LNCS, vol. 3623, pp. 365–377. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)
Volpano, D.M., Smith, G.: A Type-Based Approach to Program Security. In: Bidoit, M., Dauchet, M. (eds.) CAAP 1997, FASE 1997, and TAPSOFT 1997. LNCS, vol. 1214, pp. 607–621. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)
Proceedings of the 21st IEEE Computer Security Foundations Symposium (CSF 2008). IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos (June 2008)
PKCS #11: Cryptographic Token Interface Standard, http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2133
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Keighren, G., Aspinall, D., Steel, G. (2009). Towards a Type System for Security APIs. In: Degano, P., Viganò, L. (eds) Foundations and Applications of Security Analysis. ARSPA-WITS 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5511. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03459-6_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03459-6_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03458-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03459-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)