Gray-box runtime enforcement of hyperproperties

Abstract Enforcement of information-flow policies has been extensively studied by language-based approaches over the past few decades. In this paper, we propose an alternative, novel, general, and effective approach using enforcement of hyperproperties – a powerful formalism for expressing and reasoning about a wide range of information-flow security policies. We study black- vs. gray- vs. white-box enforcement of hyperproperties expressed by nondeterministic finite-word hyperautomata (NFH), where the enforcer has null, some, or complete information about the implementation of the system under scrutiny. Given an NFH, in order to generate a runtime enforcer, we reduce the problem to controller synthesis for hyperproperties and subsequently to the satisfiability problem for quantified Boolean formulas (QBFs). The resulting enforcers are transferable with low-overhead. We conduct a rich set of case studies, including information-flow control for JavaScript code, as well as synthesizing obfuscators for control plants.

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Publication Details

Journal
Acta Informatica
Published
2025-08-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00236-025-00502-1
Primary Topic
Security and Verification in Computing
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Gray-box runtime enforcement of hyperproperties

Borzoo Bonakdarpour, Ezio Bartocci, Andrew Wintenberg, Tzu-Han Hsu et al.
Acta Informatica
Security and Verification in Computing
article

Gray-box runtime enforcement of hyperproperties

Borzoo Bonakdarpour, Ezio Bartocci, Andrew Wintenberg, Tzu-Han Hsu, Ana Oliveira da Costa
article en

Abstract

Abstract Enforcement of information-flow policies has been extensively studied by language-based approaches over the past few decades. In this paper, we propose an alternative, novel, general, and effective approach using enforcement of hyperproperties – a powerful formalism for expressing and reasoning about a wide range of information-flow security policies. We study black- vs. gray- vs. white-box enforcement of hyperproperties expressed by nondeterministic finite-word hyperautomata (NFH), where the enforcer has null, some, or complete information about the implementation of the system under scrutiny. Given an NFH, in order to generate a runtime enforcer, we reduce the problem to controller synthesis for hyperproperties and subsequently to the satisfiability problem for quantified Boolean formulas (QBFs). The resulting enforcers are transferable with low-overhead. We conduct a rich set of case studies, including information-flow control for JavaScript code, as well as synthesizing obfuscators for control plants.

Acta InformaticaVol. 62(3)
TU Wien (AT), Institute of Science and Technology Austria (AT), University of Michigan (US), Michigan State University (US)
National Science Foundation, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Vienna Science and Technology Fund, Austrian Science Fund, Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 89%
Security and Verification in Computing
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Gray-box runtime enforcement of hyperproperties — Borzoo Bonakdarpour, Ezio Bartocci, et al. · Acta Informatica (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS