2016/10/06 by Shachar Itzhaky, Tomer Kotek, Itzhaky, Shachar +11 · 1 citation
Computer Science · #68P15 #68Q60 #D.3.2 #Engineering and Information Technology #F.3.1 #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Logic in Computer Science (cs.LO) #Logic, programming, and type systems #Web Application Security Vulnerabilities
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1610.02101
openalex publication_date 2016/10/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A large number of web applications is based on a relational database together with a program, typically a script, that enables the user to interact with the database through embedded SQL queries and commands. In this paper, we introduce a method for formal automated verification of such systems which connects database theory to mainstream program analysis. We identify a fragment of SQL which captures the behavior of the queries in our case studies, is algorithmically decidable, and facilitates the construction of weakest preconditions. Thus, we can integrate the analysis of SQL queries into a program analysis tool chain. To this end, we implement a new decision procedure for the SQL fragment that we introduce. We demonstrate practical applicability of our results with three case studies, a web administrator, a simple firewall, and a conference management system.