Verification of a Generative Separation Kernel

Abstract: We present a formal verification of the functional correctness of the Muen Separation Kernel. Muen is representative of the class of modern separation kernels that leverage hardware virtualization support, and are generative in nature in that they generate a specialized kernel for each system configuration. These features pose substantial challenges to existing verification techniques. We propose a verification framework called conditional parametric refinement which allows us to formally reason about generative systems. We use this framework to carry out a conditional refinement-based proof of correctness of the Muen kernel generator. Our analysis of several system configurations shows that our technique is effective in producing mechanized proofs of correctness, and also in identifying issues that may compromise the separation property.