Source-free Machine-checked Validation of Native Code in Coq

Abstract

Picinæ is an infrastructure for machine-proving properties of raw native code programs without sources within the Coq program-proof co-development system. This facilitates formal reasoning about binary code that is inexpressible in source languages or for which no source code exists, such as hand-written assembly code or code resulting from binary transformations (e.g., binary hardening or debloating algorithms). Preliminary results validating some highly optimized, low-level subroutines for Intel and ARM architectures using this new framework are presented and discussed.