TLA+ based access control model specification

Abstract

The article describes TLA+ access control model specification for computer systems, ensuring compliance with the mandatory integrity and confidentiality monitoring requirements with considering memory-based covert channels. The distinctive feature of the model is taking into account the characteristics of the lifecycle of electronic documents and their operating procedure. To specify the access control model, Lamport's Temporal Logic of Actions language was chosen (TLA+). Its notation seems to be the closest to generally accepted mathematical notation and its expressive capabilities and tools allow describing and verifying systems specified as finite automata. The following actions are defined in the model: create/delete a subject, read, write, append (blind write), create/delete an object, grant/remove access rights, include an object, exclude a nested object, approve an object (document), archive an object (document), cancel an approved object (document), copy an object (document). The following invariants are also defined: the type invariant (includes checking the compliance of all fields of the object, the compliance of the subject type, the uniqueness of the subject and object identifiers) and the safety invariant (includes checking the confidentiality and integrity labels of the interacting subjects and objects, the correctness of rights assignment procedures).

Keywords

• модели безопасности
• компьютерные системы
• верификация
• моделирование
• темпоральная логика
• политика безопасности
• управление доступом