A monadic analysis of information flow security with mutable state

We explore the logical underpinnings of higher-order, security-typed languages with mutable state. Our analysis is based on a logic of information flow derived from lax logic and the monadic metalanguage. Thus, our logic deals with mutation explicitly, with impurity reflected in the types, in contra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of functional programming Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 249 - 291
Main Authors:	CRARY, KARL, KLIGER, ALEKSEY, PFENNING, FRANK
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.03.2005
Subjects:	Special Issue on Language Based Security
ISSN:	0956-7968, 1469-7653
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	We explore the logical underpinnings of higher-order, security-typed languages with mutable state. Our analysis is based on a logic of information flow derived from lax logic and the monadic metalanguage. Thus, our logic deals with mutation explicitly, with impurity reflected in the types, in contrast to most higher-order security-typed languages, which deal with mutation implicitly via side-effects. More importantly, we also take a store-oriented view of security, wherein security levels are associated with elements of the mutable store. This view matches closely with the operational semantics of low-level imperative languages where information flow is expressed by operations on the store. An interesting feature of our analysis lies in its treatment of upcalls (low-security computations that include high-security ones), employing an “informativeness” judgment indicating under what circumstances a type carries useful information.
Bibliography:	istex:3FE0C9A5C1EC3B02822D0D81AB54C84F6AD1904D PII:S0956796804005441 ark:/67375/6GQ-T928JNGZ-7 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 14
ISSN:	0956-7968 1469-7653
DOI:	10.1017/S0956796804005441