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A monadic analysis of information flow security with mutable state


Author(s) : Frank Pfenning Aleksey Kliger Karl Crary, 
Publisher : N/A
Publication Date : 2003
ISSN : N/A
Abstract : 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-e#ects. More importantly, we also take a store-oriented view of security, wherein security levels are associated with regions of the mutable store. In contrast, most other accounts are value-oriented, in that security levels are associated with individual values. Our store-oriented viewpoint allows us to address information flow security while still using a largely conventional logic, but we show that it does not lessen the expressive power of the logic. 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,