[ale] Any language (wuz: Assembly Language?)

Pete Hardie pete.hardie at gmail.com
Sun Oct 27 10:42:51 EDT 2013


So it's not Pyhton itself, but the fact that it is interpreted into
something above assembly code, when is then converted to machine code,
leaving you with the inability to map one line of Python code to its
assembly code (== verifiable) equivalent?

So this would theoretically apply to Java, had it not been built with the
security checks it has (albeit they may fail to be correct)?


On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 10:22 AM, Michael B. Trausch <mbt at naunetcorp.com>wrote:

>  On 10/27/2013 10:00 AM, Pete Hardie wrote:
>
>  Out of curiosity, what sort of things are you referring to in the Python
> stdlib?
>
>
> It's not "what sort" but "how much".
>
> It's extremely time-consuming and thus therefore very improbable to be
> able to audit the entire Python stdlib, plus the entire python VM, plus the
> entire interpreter, plus the generator, and be able to say "Yes, this
> 12-line Python program is proved secure."
>
> Those twelve lines on their own might be secure, *assuming that all
> invariants are held that the programmer assumes*.  Of course, that
> depends on far more than the 12 lines of code!  That audit then has a
> domino effect.
>
> However, if you are working in C, you don't even really need to worry
> about the compiler itself, just the compiler's output.  If you can easily
> map a line of C to one or more assembler statements (and you can do that
> quite easily), then you can prove the program's security far more easily.
> After all, then you KNOW where the chains of logic go—they're static, not
> dynamic.
>
>     — Mike
>
> --
>   [image: Naunet Corporation Logo]  Michael B. Trausch
>
> President, *Naunet Corporation*
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-- 
Pete Hardie
--------
Better Living Through Bitmaps
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