Authenticated Append-Only Skiplists (AAOSLs) enable maintenance and querying of an authenticated log (such as a blockchain) without requiring any single party to store or verify the entire log, or to trust another party regarding its contents. AAOSLs can help to enable efficient dynamic participation (e.g., in consensus) and reduce storage overhead. In this paper, we formalize an AAOSL originally described by Maniatis and Baker, and prove its key correctness properties. Our model and proofs are machine checked in Agda. Our proofs apply to a generalization of the original construction and provide confidence that instances of this generalization can be used in practice. Our formalization effort has also yielded some simplifications and optimizations.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2103.04519,
title = {Formal Verification of Authenticated, Append-Only Skip Lists in Agda: Extended Version},
author = {Victor Cacciari Miraldo and Harold Carr and Mark Moir and Lisandra Silva and Guy L. Steele},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.04519},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
This is an extended version of our paper published in the 10th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Certified Programs and Proofs (CPP 2021). This version (2021-02-23) presents a stronger version of the evocr property than originally presented, and provides a link to our development in open source