BCiC: A System for Code Authentication and Verification

We present BCiC, a system for verifying and authenticating code that combines language-based proof methods with public-key digital signatures. BCiC aims to augment the rigor of formal proofs about intrinsic properties of code by relying on authentication and trust relations. BCiC integrates the Binder security language with the Calculus of (Co)Inductive Constructions (CiC). In this respect, it is a descendant of our previous logic BLF, which was based on LF rather than CiC. This paper focuses on the architecture and implementation of BCiC. In addition to a logical inference engine, the design most notably includes a network communication module for the efficient exchange of logical facts between hosts, and a cryptography module for generating and checking signatures. The implementation cooperates with the Open Verifier, a state-of-the-art system for proof-carrying code with modular checkers.