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Memory-Safe 5G Software Using the CHERI Hardware Architecture

Hessner, Fredrik LU (2024) In LU-CS-EX EDAM05 20241
Department of Computer Science
Abstract
As the problem of memory-safety continues to pose a significant threat to the software ecosystem, developers need to consider strategies to address these vul- nerabilities. For high-performing applications built on the C/C++ programming languages, solutions have to be easy to adapt without compromising too much on performance. In this thesis, high-performing 5G software is evaluated using the CHERI hardware architecture designed to significantly improve memory-safety. The research was based on two metrics: The required effort to port the software and the overhead of the memory-safe architecture compared to the standard im- plementation. The results show that only around 1% of the total lines of code had to be re-written for the program to... (More)
As the problem of memory-safety continues to pose a significant threat to the software ecosystem, developers need to consider strategies to address these vul- nerabilities. For high-performing applications built on the C/C++ programming languages, solutions have to be easy to adapt without compromising too much on performance. In this thesis, high-performing 5G software is evaluated using the CHERI hardware architecture designed to significantly improve memory-safety. The research was based on two metrics: The required effort to port the software and the overhead of the memory-safe architecture compared to the standard im- plementation. The results show that only around 1% of the total lines of code had to be re-written for the program to successfully run. The overhead of the two measurements of the benchmark were 38% and 53% compared to baseline, and are believed to come from addressable architectural limitations. (Less)
Popular Abstract
Changing your home address typically involves contacting the authorities and registering your new address with them. Imagine if you instead could maliciously register yourself on your neigh- bors address and with that gain full permission to enter and make changes to their home. This exam- ple may sound a bit bizarre, but it holds similar- ities to memory safety vulnerabilities of memory- unsafe programming languages. This master’s thesis explores Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions (CHERI) that aims to address these vulnerabilities.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Hessner, Fredrik LU
supervisor
organization
course
EDAM05 20241
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Memory-safety, CHERI, AArch64, 5G, C, C++
publication/series
LU-CS-EX
report number
2024-49
ISSN
1650-2884
language
English
id
9170387
date added to LUP
2024-08-09 10:17:07
date last changed
2024-08-09 10:17:07
@misc{9170387,
  abstract     = {{As the problem of memory-safety continues to pose a significant threat to the software ecosystem, developers need to consider strategies to address these vul- nerabilities. For high-performing applications built on the C/C++ programming languages, solutions have to be easy to adapt without compromising too much on performance. In this thesis, high-performing 5G software is evaluated using the CHERI hardware architecture designed to significantly improve memory-safety. The research was based on two metrics: The required effort to port the software and the overhead of the memory-safe architecture compared to the standard im- plementation. The results show that only around 1% of the total lines of code had to be re-written for the program to successfully run. The overhead of the two measurements of the benchmark were 38% and 53% compared to baseline, and are believed to come from addressable architectural limitations.}},
  author       = {{Hessner, Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{1650-2884}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{LU-CS-EX}},
  title        = {{Memory-Safe 5G Software Using the CHERI Hardware Architecture}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}