Identifying Overly Restrictive Matching Patterns in SMT-based Program Verifiers (Extended Version)

IF 1.4 4区计算机科学 Q3 COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Formal Aspects of Computing Pub Date : 2023-06-24 DOI:https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3571748

Alexandra Bugariu, Arshavir Ter-Gabrielyan, Peter Müller

{"title":"Identifying Overly Restrictive Matching Patterns in SMT-based Program Verifiers (Extended Version)","authors":"Alexandra Bugariu, Arshavir Ter-Gabrielyan, Peter Müller","doi":"https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3571748","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Universal quantifiers occur frequently in proof obligations produced by program verifiers, for instance, to axiomatize uninterpreted functions and to statically express properties of arrays. SMT-based verifiers typically reason about them via E-matching, an SMT algorithm that requires syntactic matching patterns to guide the quantifier instantiations. Devising good matching patterns is challenging. In particular, overly restrictive patterns may lead to spurious verification errors if the quantifiers needed for proof are not instantiated; they may also conceal unsoundness caused by inconsistent axiomatizations. In this article, we present the first technique that identifies and helps the users and the developers of program verifiers remedy the effects of overly restrictive matching patterns. We designed a novel algorithm to synthesize missing triggering terms required to complete unsatisfiability proofs via E-matching. Tool developers can use this information to refine their matching patterns and prevent similar verification errors, or to fix a detected unsoundness.</p>","PeriodicalId":50432,"journal":{"name":"Formal Aspects of Computing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Formal Aspects of Computing","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3571748","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Universal quantifiers occur frequently in proof obligations produced by program verifiers, for instance, to axiomatize uninterpreted functions and to statically express properties of arrays. SMT-based verifiers typically reason about them via E-matching, an SMT algorithm that requires syntactic matching patterns to guide the quantifier instantiations. Devising good matching patterns is challenging. In particular, overly restrictive patterns may lead to spurious verification errors if the quantifiers needed for proof are not instantiated; they may also conceal unsoundness caused by inconsistent axiomatizations. In this article, we present the first technique that identifies and helps the users and the developers of program verifiers remedy the effects of overly restrictive matching patterns. We designed a novel algorithm to synthesize missing triggering terms required to complete unsatisfiability proofs via E-matching. Tool developers can use this information to refine their matching patterns and prevent similar verification errors, or to fix a detected unsoundness.

查看原文本刊更多论文

在基于smt的程序验证器中识别过度限制的匹配模式(扩展版)

通用量词经常出现在由程序验证器产生的证明义务中，例如，对未解释的函数进行公理化和静态地表示数组的属性。基于SMT的验证器通常通过E-matching(一种需要语法匹配模式来指导量词实例化的SMT算法)对它们进行推理。设计好的匹配模式是具有挑战性的。特别是，如果没有实例化证明所需的量词，过度限制的模式可能导致虚假的验证错误;它们也可能隐藏由不一致的公理化引起的不健全。在本文中，我们将介绍识别并帮助程序验证器的用户和开发人员纠正过于严格的匹配模式的影响的第一种技术。我们设计了一种新的算法来合成通过e匹配完成不满足性证明所需的缺失触发项。工具开发人员可以使用这些信息来改进他们的匹配模式，防止类似的验证错误，或者修复检测到的不健全。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Formal Aspects of Computing 工程技术-计算机：软件工程

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： This journal aims to publish contributions at the junction of theory and practice. The objective is to disseminate applicable research. Thus new theoretical contributions are welcome where they are motivated by potential application; applications of existing formalisms are of interest if they show something novel about the approach or application. In particular, the scope of Formal Aspects of Computing includes: well-founded notations for the description of systems; verifiable design methods; elucidation of fundamental computational concepts; approaches to fault-tolerant design; theorem-proving support; state-exploration tools; formal underpinning of widely used notations and methods; formal approaches to requirements analysis.