other · CISPA Helmholtz Center · 2019

Memory Safety Preservation for WebAssembly

Vassena, Marco, Patrignani, Marco

Cited by 0Open access

Abstract

WebAssembly (Wasm) is a next-generation portable compilation target for deploying applications written in high-level languages on the web. In order to protect their memory from untrusted code, web browser engines confine the execution of compiled Wasm programs in a memory-safe sandbox. Unfortunately, classic memory-safety vulnerabilities (e.g., buffer overflows and use-after-free) can still corrupt the memory within the sandbox and allow Wasm code to mount severe attacks. To prevent these attacks, we study a class of secure compilers that eliminate (different kinds of) of memory safety violations. Following a rigorous approach, we discuss memory safety in terms of hypersafety properties, which let us identify suitable secure compilation criteria for memory-safety-preserving compilers. We conjecture that, barring some restrictions at module boundaries, the existing security mechanisms of Wasm may suffice to enforce memory-safety preservation, in the short term. In the long term, we observe that certain features proposed in the design of a memory-safe variant of Wasm could allow compilers to lift these restrictions and enforce relaxed forms of memory safety.

Cite this paper

APA 7

Vassena, M., & Patrignani, M. (2019). Memory Safety Preservation for WebAssembly. CISPA Helmholtz Center. https://doi.org/10.60882/cispa.24614553

MLA 9

Vassena, Marco, and Marco Patrignani. “Memory Safety Preservation for WebAssembly.” CISPA Helmholtz Center, 2019, https://doi.org/10.60882/cispa.24614553.

Chicago

Vassena, Marco, and Marco Patrignani. 2019. “Memory Safety Preservation for WebAssembly.” CISPA Helmholtz Center. https://doi.org/10.60882/cispa.24614553.

Harvard

Vassena, M. and Patrignani, M. (2019) ‘Memory Safety Preservation for WebAssembly’, CISPA Helmholtz Center. Available at: https://doi.org/10.60882/cispa.24614553.

BibTeX

@misc{vassena2019memory,
  title = {{Memory Safety Preservation for WebAssembly}},
  author = {Vassena, Marco and Patrignani, Marco},
  journal = {CISPA Helmholtz Center},
  year = {2019},
  doi = {10.60882/cispa.24614553}
}

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