Abstract
We introduce a version of probabilistic Kleene algebra with angelic nondeterminism and a corresponding class of automata. Our approach implements semantics via distributions over multisets in order to overcome theoretical barriers arising from the lack of a distributive law between the powerset and Giry monads. We produce a full Kleene theorem and a coalgebraic theory, as well as both operational and denotational semantics and equational reasoning principles.
Abstract
Smart contracts are frequently vulnerable to control-flow attacks based on confused deputies, reentrancy, and incorrect error handling. These attacks exploit the complexity of interactions among multiple possibly unknown contracts. Existing best practices to prevent vulnerabilities rely on code patterns and heuristics that produce both false positives and false negatives. Even with extensive audits and heuristic tools, new vulnerabilities continue to arise, routinely costing tens of millions of dollars. We introduce SCIF, a language for secure smart contracts, that addresses these classes of control-flow attacks. By extending secure information flow mechanisms in a principled way, SCIF enforces both classic end-to-end information flow security and new security restrictions on control flow, even when SCIF contracts interact with malicious non-SCIF code. SCIF is implemented as a compiler to Solidity. We show how SCIF can secure contracts with minimal overhead through case studies of applications with intricate security reasoning and a large corpus of insecure code.
Abstract
We introduce a version of probabilistic Kleene algebra with angelic nondeterminism and a corresponding class of automata. Our approach implements semantics via distributions over multisets in order to overcome theoretical barriers arising from the lack of a distributive law between the powerset and Giry monads. We produce a full Kleene theorem and a coalgebraic theory, as well as both operational and denotational semantics and equational reasoning principles.