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Security and the class verifier

A look at the role played by the class verifier in the JVM's overall security model

By Bill Venners, JavaWorld.com, 10/01/97

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This month's article continues the discussion of Java's security model begun in August's "Under the Hood." In that article, I gave a general overview of the security mechanisms built into the Java virtual machine (JVM). I also looked closely at one aspect of those security mechanisms: the JVM's built-in safety features. In September's "Under the Hood," I examined the class loader architecture, another aspect of the JVM's built-in security mechanisms. This month I'll focus on the third prong of the JVM's security strategy: the class verifier.

The class-file verifier

Every Java virtual machine has a class-file verifier, which ensures that loaded class files have a proper internal structure. If the class-file verifier discovers a problem with a class file, it throws an exception. Because a class file is just a sequence of binary data, a virtual machine can't know whether a particular class file was generated by a well-meaning Java compiler or by shady crackers bent on compromising the integrity of the virtual machine. As a consequence, all JVM implementations have a class-file verifier that can be invoked on untrusted classes, to make sure the classes are safe to use.

One of the security goals that the class-file verifier helps achieve is program robustness. If a buggy compiler or savvy cracker generated a class file that contained a method whose bytecodes included an instruction to jump beyond the end of the method, that method could, if it were invoked, cause the virtual machine to crash. Thus, for the sake of robustness, it is important that the virtual machine verify the integrity of the bytecodes it imports.

Although Java virtual machine designers are allowed to decide when their virtual machines will perform these checks, many implementations will do most checking just after a class is loaded. Such a virtual machine analyzes bytecodes (and verifies their integrity) once, before they are ever executed. As part of its verification of bytecodes, the Java virtual machine makes sure all jump instructions -- for example, goto (jump always), ifeq (jump if top of stack zero), etc. -- cause a jump to another valid instruction in the bytecode stream of the method. As a consequence, the virtual machine need not check for a valid target every time it encounters a jump instruction as it executes bytecodes. In most cases, checking all bytecodes once before they are executed is a more efficient way to guarantee robustness than checking each bytecode instruction every time it is executed.

A class-file verifier that performs its checking as early as possible most likely operates in two distinct phases. During phase one, which takes place just after a class is loaded, the class-file verifier checks the internal structure of the class file, including verifying the integrity of the bytecodes it contains. During phase two, which takes place as bytecodes are executed, the class-file verifier confirms the existence of symbolically referenced classes, fields, and methods.

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Resources
  • The book The Java virtual machine Specification (http://www.aw.com/cp/lindholm-yellin.html), by Tim Lindholm and Frank Yellin (ISBN 0-201-63452-X), part of The Java Series (http://www.aw.com/cp/javaseries.html), from Addison-Wesley, is the definitive Java virtual machine reference.
  • Secure Computing with JavaNow and the Future (a whitepaper)http://www.javasoft.com/marketing/collateral/security.html
  • Applet Security FAQ
    http://www.javasoft.com/sfaq/
  • Low Level Security in Java, by Frank Yellin http://www.javasoft.com/sfaq/verifier.html
  • The Java Security Home Page
    http://www.javasoft.com/security/
  • See the Hostile Applets Home Page
    http://www.math.gatech.edu/~mladue/HostileApplets.html
  • The book Java SecurityHostile Applets, Holes, and Antidotes, by Dr. Gary McGraw and Ed Felton, gives a thorough analysis of security issues surrounding Java. http://www.rstcorp.com/java-security.html
  • An online version of the Java Language Specification is available at http://www.javasoft.com/docs/books/jls/html/index.html
  • Previous "Under The Hood" articles:
  • The Lean, Mean Virtual Machine -- Gives an introduction to the Java virtual machine.
  • The Java Class File Lifestyle -- Gives an overview of the Java class file, the file format into which all Java programs are compiled.
  • Java's Garbage- Collected Heap -- Gives an overview of garbage collection in general and the garbage-collected heap of the Java virtual machine in particular.
  • Bytecode Basics -- Introduces the bytecodes of the Java virtual machine, and discusses primitive types, conversion operations, and stack operations in particular.
  • Floating Point Arithmetic -- Describes the Java virtual machine's floating-point support and the bytecodes that perform floating point operations.
  • Logic and Arithmetic -- Describes the Java virtual machine's support for logical and integer arithmetic, and the related bytecodes.
  • Objects and Arrays -- Describes how the Java virtual machine deals with objects and arrays, and discusses the relevant bytecodes.
  • Exceptions -- Describes how the Java virtual machine deals with exceptions, and discusses the relevant bytecodes.
  • Try-Finally -- Describes how the Java virtual machine implements try-finally clauses, and discusses the relevant bytecodes.
  • Control Flow -- Describes how the Java virtual machine implements control flow and discusses the relevant bytecodes.
  • The Architecture of Aglets -- Describes the inner workings of aglets, IBM's autonomous Java-based software agent technology.
  • The Point of Aglets -- Analyzes the real-world utility of mobile agents such as aglets, IBM's autonomous Java- based software agent technology.
  • Method Invocation and Return -- Describes the four ways the Java virtual machine invokes methods, including the relevant bytecodes.
  • Thread Synchronization -- Shows how thread synchronization works in the Java virtual machine. Discusses the bytecodes for entering and exiting monitors.
  • Java's Security Architecture -- Gives an overview of the security model built into the JVM and looks at the JVM's built-in safety features.
  • Security and the Class Loader Architecture -- Describes class loaders and shows how the fit into Java's overall security model.