We present SEIF, a methodology that combines static analysis with symbolic execution to verify and explicate information flow paths in a hardware design. SEIF begins with a statically built model of the information flow through a design and uses guided symbolic execution to recognize and eliminate non-flows with high precision or to find corresponding paths through the design state for true flows. We evaluate SEIF on two open-source CPUs, an AES core, and the AKER access control module. SEIF can exhaustively explore 10-12 clock cycles deep in 4-6 seconds on average, and can automatically account for 86-90% of the paths in the statically built model. Additionally, SEIF can be used to find multiple violating paths for security properties, providing a new angle for security verification.
@article{arxiv.2307.11884,
title = {Augmented Symbolic Execution for Information Flow in Hardware Designs},
author = {Kaki Ryan and Matthew Gregoire and Cynthia Sturton},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.11884},
year = {2023}
}