Verified Configurations

This page describes which architecture/platform/configuration combinations of seL4 have verified properties, which configurations possess which properties, and how to obtain an seL4 version for a specified configuration.

At this time, verification of seL4 remains a more time-intensive process than software development. Consequently, while seL4 has been ported to multiple architectures, and its build system allows further configuration of internal and hardware features, verified configurations are necessarily both less numerous and more specific.

These configurations are also referred to as verification platforms, currently constituting: ARM, ARM_HYP, ARM_MCS, AARCH64, RISCV64, RISCV64_MCS, X64

Please consult Frequently Asked Questions, as well as the proof and assumptions page for a better understanding of the intersection of verification and seL4.

Examining and Building Verified Configurations

Current verified configurations can be found in seL4 sources in the configs folder:

ls configs/*_verified.cmake
# AARCH64_verified.cmake         ARM_verified.cmake
# ARM_HYP_exynos5_verified.cmake RISCV64_MCS_verified.cmake
# ARM_HYP_verified.cmake         RISCV64_verified.cmake
# ARM_MCS_verified.cmake         X64_verified.cmake
# ARM_imx8mm_verified.cmake

To obtain specific source code and build for a given configuration (e.g. ARM) in a build directory:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -P ../config/ARM_verified.cmake

Notably kernel.elf is the kernel binary, and kernel_all_pp.c is the kernel source code after preprocessing, which is used as the basis for verification efforts.

Also see Stand-alone seL4 builds for general guidelines on generating an seL4 binary from an existing configuration and what to do with a kernel.elf file.

Available Verified Configurations

Unverified Features

At present, none of our verified configurations take into account address translation for devices (System MMU or IOMMU), debug/profiling interfaces, or the kernel startup at boot.

The proofs for RISCV64_MCS/ARM_MCS (mixed-criticality extensions to real-time seL4 features), as well as security proofs for AARCH64 are in progress. Refer to the roadmap for status and upcoming features.

ARM Sabre Lite

File ARM_verified.cmake
Architecture ARMv7
Platform i.MX 6 (Sabre Lite)
Floating-point support No
Hypervisor mode No
Verified properties functional correctness incl fast path, integrity (access control), confidentiality (information flow), binary correctness (covers all verified C code), user-level system initialisation

ARM IMX8MM-EVK

File ARM_imx8mm_verified.cmake
Architecture ARMv7
Platform IMX8MM-EVK
Floating-point support Yes
Hypervisor mode No
Verified properties functional correctness incl fast path

ARM_HYP TK1

File ARM_HYP_verified.cmake
Architecture ARMv7
Platform Tegra TK1
Floating-point support No
Hypervisor mode Yes
Verified properties functional correctness, incl fast path

ARM_HYP Exynos5

File ARM_HYP_exynos5_verified.cmake
Architecture ARMv7
Platform Odroid XU4
Floating-point support No
Hypervisor mode Yes
Verified properties functional correctness, incl fast path

ARM_MCS

File ARM_MCS_verified.cmake
Architecture ARMv7
Platform i.MX 6 (Sabre Lite)
Floating-point support No
Hypervisor mode No
Mixed-Criticality-Systems API Yes
Verified properties in progress (design-level functional correctness completed)

AARCH64

File AARCH64_verified.cmake
Architecture ARMv8
Platform Tegra X2 (Jetson TX2)
Floating-point support Yes
Hypervisor mode Yes
Verified properties functional correctness, incl fast path completed; integrity proof in progress

RISCV64

File RISCV64_verified.cmake
Architecture RISC-V 64-bit
Platform HiFive
Floating-point support No
Hypervisor mode No
Verified properties functional correctness, integrity (access control), confidentiality (information flow); verification of fast path in progress

RISCV64_MCS

File RISCV64_MCS_verified.cmake
Architecture RISC-V 64-bit
Platform HiFive
Floating-point support No
Hypervisor mode No
Mixed-Criticality-Systems API Yes
Verified properties C verification in progress (design-level functional correctness completed)

X64

File X64_verified.cmake
Architecture/Platform x86 64-bit
Floating-point support Yes
Hypervisor mode No
Verified properties functional correctness, no fast path