IBOS: A correct-by-construction modular browser

Abstract

Current web browsers are complex, have enormous trusted computing bases, and provide attackers with easy access to computer systems. This makes web browser security a difficult issue that increases in importance as more and more applications move to the web. Our approach for this challenge is to design and build a correct-by-construction web browser, called IBOS, that consists of multiple concurrent components, with a small required trusted computing base. We give a formal specification of the design of this secure-by-construction web browser in rewriting logic. We use formal verification of that specification to prove the desired security properties of the IBOS design, including the address bar correctness and the same-origin policy. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.