NCSC-TG-023

 

      VERSION-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              NATIONAL COMPUTER SECURITY CENTER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         A GUIDE TO

 

                       UNDERSTANDING

 

                      SECURITY TESTING

 

                       AND

 

                       TEST DOCUMENTATION

 

                     IN

 

                      TRUSTED SYSTEMS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      July 1993

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              Approved for Public Release:

 

              Distribution Unlimited.

 

 

 

NCSC-TG-023

Library No. S-232.561

 Version-1

 

FOREWORD

 

The National Computer Security Center is issuing A Guide to Understanding Security Testing

and Test Documentation in Trusted Systems as part of the "Rainbow Series" of documents our

Technical Guidelines Program produces. In the Rainbow Series, we discuss in detail the features

of the Department of Defense Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (DoD 5200.28-STD)

and provide guidance for meeting each requirement. The National Computer Security Center,

through its Trusted Product Evaluation Program, evaluates the security features of commercially

produced computer systems. Together, these programs ensure that users are capable of protecting

their important data with trusted computer systems.

 

The specific guidelines in this document provide a set of good practices related to security testing

and the development of test documentation. This technical guideline has been written to help the

vendor and evaluator community understand what deliverables are required for test documentation,

as well as the level of detail required of security testing at all classes in the Trusted Computer System

Evaluation Criteria.

 

As the Director, National Computer Security Center, Invite your suggestions for revision to this

technical guideline. We plan to review this document as the need arises.

 

National Computer Security Center

 

Attention: Chief, Standard, Criteria and Guidelines Division

 

9800 Savage Road

 

Fort George G. Meade, MD 20755-6000

 

 

 

Patrick R. Gallagher, Jr.    January, 1994

 

Director

 

National Computer Security Center

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

Special recognition and acknowledgment for his contributions to this document are extended to

Virgil D. Gligor, University of Maryland, as primary author of this document.

 

Special thanks are extended to those who enthusiastically gave of their time and technical

expertise in reviewing this guideline and providing valuable comments and suggestions. The

assistance of C. Sekar Chandersekaran, IBM and Charles Bonneau, Honeywell Federal Systems,

in the preparation of the examples presented in this guideline is gratefully acknowledged.

 

Special recognition is extended to MAJ James P. Gordon, U.S. Army, and Leon Neufeld as

National Computer Security Center project managers for this guideline.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

FOREWORD    i

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS   iii

 

l. INTRODUCTION   1

 

1.1 PURPOSE 1

 

1.2 SCOPE   1    

 

1.3 CONTROL OBJECTIVES  2

 

2. SECURITY TESTING OVERVIEW 3

 

2.1 OBJECTIVES    3

 

2.2 PURPOSE 3    

 

2.3 PROCESS 4

 

2.3.1 System Analysis   4

 

2.3.2 Functional Testing     4

 

2.3.3 Security Testing  5

 

2.4 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION 5

 

2.5 TEST TEAM COMPOSITION    6

 

2.6 TEST SITE     17

 

3. SECURITY TESTING - APPROACHES, DOCUMENTATION, AND

EXAMPLES    8

 

3.1 TESTING PHILOSOPHY  8

 

3.2 TEST AUTOMATION     9

 

3.3 TESTING APPROACHES  11

 

3.3.1 Monolithic (Black-Box) Testing     11

 

3.3.2 Functional-Synthesis (White-Box) Testing 13

 

3.3.3 Gray-Box Testing  25

 

3.4 RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TCSEC SECURITY TESTING

REQUIREMENTS      18

 

3.5 SECURITY TEST DOCUMENTATION    21

 

3.5.1 Overview    21

 

3.5.2 Test Plan   22

 

3.5.2.1 Test Conditions 22

 

3.5.2.2 Test Data 24

 

3.5.2.3 Coverage Analysis    25

 

3.5.3 Test Procedures   27

 

3.5.4 Test Programs     27

 

3.5.5 Test Log    28

 

3.5.6 Test Report 28

 

3.6 SECURITY TESTING OF PROCESSORS' HARDWARE/FIRMWARE

PROTECTION MECHANISMS   28

 

3.6.1 The Need for Hardware/Firmware Security Testing      29

 

3.6.2 Explicit TCSEC Requirements for Hardware Security Testing  30

 

3.6.3 Hardware Security Testing vs. System Integrity Testing     31

 

3.6.4 Goals, Philosophy, and Approaches to Hardware Security Testing   31

 

3.6.5 Test Conditions, Data, and Coverage Analysis for Hardware Security

Testing     32

 

3.6.5.1 Test Conditions for Isolation and Noncircumventability Testing 32

 

3.6.5.2 Text Conditions for Policy-Relevant Processor Instructions     33

 

3.6.5.3 Tests Conditions for Generic Security Flaws  33

 

3.6.6 Relationship between Hardware/Firmware Security Testing and the TCSEC

Requirements      34

 

3.7 TEST PLAN EXAMPLES  36

 

3.7.1 Example of a Test Plan for "Access"      37

 

3.7.1.1 Test Conditions for Mandatory Access Control of "Access" 38

 

3.7.1.2 Test Data for MAC Tests    38

 

3.7.1.3 Coverage Analysis    39

 

3.7.2 Example of a Test Plan for "Open"  43

 

3.7.2.1 Test Conditions for "Open" 43

 

3.7.2.2 Test Data for the Access Graph Dependency Condition      44

 

3.7.2.3 Coverage Analysis    46

 

3.7.3 Examples of a Test Plan for "Read" 46

 

3.7.3.1 Test Conditions for "Read" 47

 

3.7.3.2 Test Data for the Access-Check Dependency Condition      47

 

3.7.3.3 Coverage Analysis    51

 

3.7.4 Examples of Kernel Isolation Test Plans  51

 

3.7.4.1 Test Conditions 51

 

3.7.4.2 Test Data 51

 

3.7.4.3 Coverage Analysis    53

 

3.7.5 Examples of Reduction of Cyclic Test Dependencies    54

 

3.7.6 Example of Test Plans for Hardware/Firmware Security Testing     57

 

3.7.6.1 Test Conditions for the Ring Crossing Mechanism    58

 

3.7.6.2 Test Data 58

 

3.7.6.3 Coverage Analysis    60

 

3.7.7 Relationship with the TCSEC Requirements 62

 

4. COVERT CHANNEL TESTING    66

 

4.1 COVERT CHANNEL TEST PLANS 66

 

4.2 AN EXAMPLE OF A COVERT CHANNEL TEST PLAN   67

 

4.2.1 Test Plan for the Upgraded Directory Channel   67

 

4.2.1.1 Test Condition  68

 

4.2.1.2 Test Data 68

 

4.2.1.3 Coverage Analysis    70

 

4.2.2 Test Programs     70

 

4.2.3 Test Results      70

 

4.3 RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TCSEC REQUIREMENTS   70

 

5. DOCUMENTATION OF SPECIFICATION-TO-CODE CORRESPONDENCE   72

 

APPENDIX    73

 

1 Specification-to-Code Correspondence   73

 

2 Informal Methods for Specification-to-Code Correspondence      74

 

3 An Example of Specification-to-Code Correspondence 76

 

GLOSSARY    83

 

REFERENCES  90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION

 

The National Computer Security Center (NCSC) encourages the widespread availability of

trusted computer systems. In support of this goal the Department of Defense Trusted Computer

System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC) was created as a metric against which computer systems could

be evaluated. The NCSC published the TCSEC on 15 August 1983 as CSC-STD-001-83. In

December 1985, the Department of Defense (DoD) adopted it, with a few changes, as a DoD

Standard, DoD 5200.28-STD. [13] DoD Directive 5200.28, "Security Requirements for Automatic

Data Processing (ADP) Systems," requires that the TCSEC be used throughout the DoD. The NCSC

uses the TCSEC as a standard for evaluating the effectiveness of security controls built into ADP

systems. The TCSEC is divided into four divisions: D, C, B, and A. These divisions are ordered in

a hierarchical manner with the highest division (A) being reserved for systems providing the best

available level of assurance. Within divisions C and B there are a number of subdivisions known

as classes. In turn, these classes are also ordered in a hierarchical manner to represent different

levels of security.

 

1.1 PURPOSE

 

Security testing is a requirement for TCSEC classes C1 though A1. This testing determines that

security features for a system are implemented as designed and that they are adequate for the

specified level of trust. The TCSEC also requires test documentation to support the security testing

of the security features of a system. The TCSEC evaluation process includes security testing and

evaluation of test documentation of a system by an NCSC evaluation team. A Guide to

Understanding Security Testing and Test Documentation for Trusted Systems will assist the

operating system developers and vendors in the development of computer security testing and testing

procedures. This guideline gives system developers and vendors suggestions and recommendations

on how to develop testing and testing documentation that will be found acceptable by an NCSC

Evaluation Team.

 

1.2 SCOPE

 

TCSEC classes C1 through A1 assurance is gained through security testing and the accompanying

test documentation of the ADP system. Security testing and test documentation ensures that the

security features of the system are implemented as designed and are adequate for an application

environment. This guideline discusses the development of security testing and test documentation

for system developers and vendors to prepare them for the evaluation process by the NCSC. This

guideline addresses, in detail, various test methods and their applicability to security and

accountability policy testing. The Trusted Computing Base (TCB) isolation, noncircumventability

testing, processor testing, and covert channel testing methods are examples.

 

This document provides an in-depth guide to security testing. This includes the definitions,

writing and documentation of the test plans for security and a brief discussion of the mapping

between the formal top-level specification (FTLS) of a TCB and the TCB implementation

specifications. This document also provides a standard format for test plans and test result

presentation. Extensive documentation of security testing and specification-to-code correspondence

arise both during a system evaluation and, more significantly, during a system life cycle. This

guideline addresses evaluation testing, not life-cycle testing. This document complements the

security testing guideline that appears in Section 10 of the TCSEC.

 

The scope and approach of this document is to assist the vendor in security testing and in particular

functional testing. The vendor is responsible for functional testing, not penetration testing. If

necessary, penetration testing is conducted by an NCSC evaluation team. The team collectively

identifies penetration vulnerabilities of a system and rates them relative to ease of attack and

difficulty of developing a hierarchy penetration scenario. Penetration testing is then conducted

according to this hierarchy, with the most critical and easily executed attacks attempted first [17].

 

This guideline emphasizes the testing of systems to meet the requirements of the TCSEC. A Guide

to Understanding Security Testing and Test Documentation for Trusted Systems does not address

the testing of networks, subsystems, or new versions of evaluated computer system products. It only

addresses the requirements of the TCSEC.

 

Information in this guideline derived from the requirements of the TCSEC is prefaced by the

word "shall." Recommendations that are derived from commonly accepted good practices are

prefaced by the word "should." The guidance contained herein is intended to be used when

conducting and documenting security functional testing of an operating system. The

recommendations in this document are not to be construed as supplementary requirements to the

TCSEC. The TCSEC is the only metric against which systems are to be evaluated.

 

Throughout this guideline there are examples, illustrations, or citations of test plan formats that

have been used in commercial product development. The use of these examples, illustrations, and

citations is not meant to imply that they contain the only acceptable test plan formats. The selection

of these examples is based solely on their availability in computer security literature. Examples in

this document are not to be construed as the only implementations that will satisfy the TCSEC

requirements. The examples are suggestions of appropriate implementations.

 

1.3 CONTROL OBJECTIVES

 

The TCSEC and DoD 5200.28-M [14] provide the control objectives for security testing and

documentation. Specifically these documents state the following:

 

"Component's Designated Approving Authorities, or their designees for this purpose . . .

will assure:. . .

 

"4.  Maintenance of documentation on operating systems (O/S) and all modifications

thereto, and its retention for a sufficient period of time to enable tracing of security-related

defects to their point of origin or inclusion in the system.

 

"5.  Supervision, monitoring, and testing, as appropriate, of changes in an approved ADP

System that could affect the security features of the system, so that a secure system is

maintained.

 

"6. Proper disposition and correction of security deficiencies in all approved ADP

Systems, and the effective use and disposition of system housekeeping or audit records,

records of security violations or security-related system malfunctions, and records of tests

of the security features of an ADP System.

 

"7. Conduct of competent system Security Testing and Evaluation (ST&E), timely review

of system ST&E reports, and correction of deficiencies needed to support conditional or

final approval or disapproval of an ADP system for the processing of classified

information.

 

"8. Establishment, where appropriate, of a central ST&E coordination point for the

maintenance of records of selected techniques, procedures, standards, and tests used in

testing and evaluation of security features of ADP systems which may be suitable for

validation and use by other Department of Defense components."

 

Section 5 of the TCSEC gives the following as the Assurance Control Objective:

 

"The third basic control objective is concerned with guaranteeing or providing confidence

that the security policy has been implemented correctly and that the protection critical

elements of the system do, indeed, accurately mediate and enforce the intent of that policy.

By extension, assurance must include a guarantee that the trusted portion of the system

works only as intended. To accomplish these objectives, two types of assurance are

needed. They are life-cycle assurance and operational assurance.

 

"Life-cycle assurance refers to steps taken by an organization to ensure that the system

is designed, developed, and maintained using formalized and rigorous controls and

standards. Computer systems that process and store sensitive or classified information

depend on the hardware and software to protect that information. It follows that the

hardware and software themselves must be protected against unauthorized changes that

could cause protection mechanisms to malfunction or be bypassed completely. For this

reason, trusted computer systems must be carefully evaluated and tested during the design

and development phases and reevaluated whenever changes are made that could affect

the integrity of the protection mechanisms. Only in this way can confidence be provided

that the hardware and software interpretation of the security policy is maintained

accurately and without distortion." [13]

 

2. SECURITY TESTING OVERVIEW

 

This section provides the objectives, purpose, and a brief overview of vendor and NCSC security

testing. Test team composition, test site location, testing process, and system documentation are

also discussed.

 

2.1 OBJECTIVES

 

The objectives of security testing are to uncover all design and implementation flaws that enable

a user external to the TCB to violate security and accountability policy, isolation, and

noncircumventability.

 

2.2 PURPOSE

 

Security testing involves determining (1) a system security mechanism adequacy for

completeness and correctness and (2) the degree of consistency between system documentation and

actual implementation. This is accomplished through a variety of assurance methods such as analysis

of system design documentation, inspection of test documentation, and independent execution of

functional testing and penetration testing.

 

2.3 PROCESS

 

A qualified NCSC team of experts is responsible for independently evaluating commercial

products to determine if they satisfy TCSEC requirements. The NCSC is also responsible for

maintaining a listing of evaluated products on the NCSC Evaluated Products List (EPL). To

accomplish this mission, the NCSC Trusted Product Evaluation Program has been established to

assist vendors in developing, testing, and evaluating trusted products for the EPL. Security testing

is an integral part of the evaluation process as described in the Trusted Product Evaluations-A

Guide For Vendors. [18]

 

2.3.1 System Analysis

 

System analysis is used by the NCSC evaluation team to obtain a complete and in-depth

understanding of the security mechanisms and operations of a vendor's product prior to conducting

security testing. A vendor makes available to an NCSC team any information and training to support

the NCSC team members in their understanding of the system to be tested. The NCSC team will

become intimately familiar with a vendor's system under evaluation and will analyze the product

design and implementation, relative to the TCSEC.

 

System candidates for TCSEC ratings B2 through A1 are subject to verification and covert channel

analyses. Evaluation of these systems begins with the selection of a test configuration, evaluation

of vendor security testing documentation, and preparation of an NCSC functional test plan.

 

2.3.2 Functional Testing

 

Initial functional testing is conducted by the vendor and results are presented to the NCSC team.

The vendor should conduct extensive functional testing of its product during development, field

testing, or both. Vendor testing should be conducted by procedures defined in a test plan. Significant

events during testing should be placed in a test log. As testing proceeds sequentially through each

test case, the vendor team should identify flaws and deficiencies that will need to be corrected.

When a hardware or software change is made, the test procedure that uncovered the problem should

then be repeated to validate that the problem has been corrected. Care should be taken to verify that

the change does not affect any previously tested procedure. These procedures also should be repeated

when there is concern that flaws or deficiencies exist. When the vendor team has corrected all

functional problems and the team has analyzed and retested all corrections, a test report should be

written and made a part of the report for review by the NCSC test team prior to NCSC security testing.

 

The NCSC team is responsible for testing vendor test plans and reviewing vendor test

documentation. The NCSC team will review the vendor's functional test plan to ensure it sufficiently

covers each identified security mechanism and explanation in sufficient depth to provide reasonable

assurance that the security features are implemented as designed and are adequate for an application

environment. The NCSC team conducts its own functional testing and, if appropriate, penetration

testing after a vendor's functional testing has been completed.

 

A vendor's product must be free of design and implementation changes, and the documentation

to support security testing must be completed before NCSC team functional testing. Functional

security testing is conducted on C1 through A1 class systems and penetration testing on B2, B3,

and A1 class systems. The NCSC team may choose to repeat any of the functional tests performed

by the vendor and/or execute its own functional test. During testing by the NCSC team, the team

informs the vendor of any test problems and provides the vendor with an opportunity to correct

implementation flaws. If the system satisfies the functional test requirements, B2 and above

candidates undergo penetration testing. During penetration testing the NCSC team collectively

identifies penetration vulnerabilities in the system and rates them relative to ease of attack and

difficulty in developing a penetration hierarchy. Penetration testing is then conducted according to

this hierarchy with the most critical and most easily executed attacks attempted first [17]. The vendor

is given limited opportunity to correct any problems identified [17]. When opportunity to correct

implementation flaws has been provided and corrections have been retested, the NCSC team

documents the test results. The test results are input which support a final rating, the publication of

the Final Report and the EPL entry.

 

2.3.3 Security Testing

 

Security testing is primarily the responsibility of the NCSC evaluation team. It is important to

note, however, that vendors shall perform security testing on a product to be evaluated using NCSC

test methods and procedures. The reason for vendor security testing is two-fold: First, any TCB

changes required as a result of design analysis or formal evaluation by the NCSC team will require

that the vendor (and subsequently the evaluation team) retest the TCB to ensure that its security

properties are unaffected and the required changes fixed the test problems. Second, any new system

release that affects the TCB must undergo either a reevaluation by the NCSC or a rating-maintenance

evaluation by the vendor itself. If a rating maintenance is required, which is expected to be the case

for the preponderant number of TCB changes, the security testing responsibility, including all the

documentation evidence, becomes a vendor's responsibility-not just that of the NCSC evaluation

team.

 

Furthermore, it is important to note that the system configuration provided to the evaluation team

for security testing should be the same as that used by the vendor itself. This ensures that consistent

test results are obtained. It also allows the evaluation team to examine the vendor test suite and to

focus on areas deemed to be insufficiently tested. Identifying these areas will help speed the security

testing of a product significantly. (An important implication of reusing the vendor's test suite is that

security testing should yield repeatable results.)

 

When the evaluation team completes the security testing, the test results are shown to the vendor.

If any TCB changes are required, the vendor shall correct or remove those flaws before TCB retesting

by the NCSC team is performed.

 

2.4 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

Vendor system documentation requirements will vary, and depending on the TCSEC class a

candidate system will be evaluated for, it can consist of the following:

 

Security Features User's Guide. It describes the protection mechanisms provided by

the TCB, guidelines on their use, and how they interact with one another. This may be

used to identify the protection mechanisms that need to be covered by test procedures

and test cases.

 

Trusted Facility Manual. It describes the operation and administration of security

features of the system and presents cautions about functions and privileges that should

be controlled when running a secure facility. This may identify additional functions that

need to be tested.

 

Design Documentation. It describes the philosophy of protection, TCB interfaces,

security policy model, system architecture, TCB protection mechanisms, top level

specifications, verification plan, hardware and software architecture, system configuration

and administration, system programming guidelines, system library routines,

programming languages, and other topics.

 

Covert Channel Analysis Documentation. It describes the determination and maximum

bandwidth of each identified channel.

 

System Integrity Documentation. It describes the hardware and software features used

to validate periodically the correct operation of the on-site hardware and firmware

elements of the TCB.

 

Trusted Recovery Documentation. It describes procedures and mechanisms assuring

that after an ADP system failure or other discontinuity, recovery is obtained without a

protection compromise. Information describing procedures and mechanisms may also be

found in the Trusted Facility Manual.

 

Test Documentation. It describes the test plan, test logs, test reports, test procedures,

and test results and shows how the security mechanisms were functionally tested, covert

channel bandwidth, and mapping between the FTLS and the TCB source code. Test

documentation is used to document plans, tests, and results in support of validating and

verifying the security testing effort.

 

2.5 TEST TEAM COMPOSITION

 

A vendor test team should be formed to conduct security testing. It is desirable for a vendor to

provide as many members from its security testing team as possible to support the NCSC during

its security testing. The reason for this is to maintain continuity and to minimize the need for

retraining throughout the evaluation process. The size, education, and skills of the test team will

vary depending on the size of the system and the class for which it is being evaluated. (See Chapter

10 of the TCSEC, "A Guideline on Security Testing.")

 

A vendor security testing team should be comprised of a team leader and two or more additional

members depending on the evaluated class. In selecting personnel for the test team, it is important

to assign individuals who have the ability to understand the hardware and software architecture of

the system, as well as an appropriate level of experience in system testing. Engineers and scientists

with backgrounds in electrical engineering, computer science and software engineering are ideal

candidates for functional security testing. Prior experience with penetration techniques is important

for penetration testing. A mathematics or logic background can be valuable in formal specifications

involved in A1 system evaluation.

 

The NCSC test team is formed using the guidance of Chapter 10, in the TCSEC, "A Guideline

on Security Testing." This chapter specifies test team composition, qualifications and parameters.

Vendors may find these requirements useful recommendations for their teams.

 

2.6 TEST SITE

 

The location of a test site is a vendor responsibility. The vendor is to provide the test site. The

evaluator's functional test site may be located at the same site at which the vendor conducted his

functional testing. Proper hardware and software must be available for testing the configuration`a3

well as appropriate documentation, personnel, and other resources which have a significant impact

on the location of the test site.

 

3. SECURITY TESTING-APPROACHES, DOCUMENTATION,

AND EXAMPLES

 

3.1 TESTING PHILOSOPHY

 

Operating systems that support multiple users require security mechanisms and policies that

guard against unauthorized disclosure and modification of critical user data. The TCB is the principal

operating system component that implements security mechanisms and policies that must itself be

protected [13]. TCB protection is provided by a reference monitor mechanism whose data structures

and code are isolated, noncircumventable, and small enough to be verifiable. The reference monitor

ensures that the entire TCB is isolated and noncircumventable.

 

Although TCBs for different operating systems may contain different data structures and

programs, they all share the isolation, noncircumventability, and verifiability properties that

distinguish them from the rest of the operating system components. These properties imply that the

security functional testing of an operating system TCB may require different methods from those

commonly used in software testing for all security classes of the TCSEC.

 

Security testing should be done for TCBs that are configured and installed in a specific system

and operate in a normal mode (as opposed to maintenance or test mode). Tests should be done using

user-level programs that cannot read or write internal TCB data structures or programs. New data

structures and programs should also not be added to a TCB for security testing purposes, and special

TCB entry points that are unavailable to user programs should not be used. If a TCB is tested in the

maintenance mode using programs that cannot be run at the user level, the security tests would be

meaningless because assurance cannot be gained that the TCB performs user-level access control

correctly. If user-level test programs could read, write or add internal TCB data structures and

programs, as would be required by traditional instrumentation testing techniques, the TCB would

lose its isolation properties. If user-level test programs could use special TCB entry points not

normally available to users, the TCB would become circumventable in the normal mode of

operation.

 

Security testing of operating system TCBs in the normal mode of operation using user-level test

programs (which do not rely on breaching isolation and noncircumventability) should address the

following problems of TCB verifiability through security testing: (1) Coverage Analysis, (2)

Reduction of Cyclic Test Dependencies, (3) Test Environment Independence, and (4) Repeatability

of Security Testing.

 

(1) Coverage Analysis. Security testing requires that precise, extensive test coverage be obtained

during TCB testing. Test coverage analysis should be based on coverage of test conditions derived

from the Descriptive Top-Level Specification (DTLS)/Formal Top-Level Specification (FTLS), the

security and accountability model conditions, the TCB isolation and noncircumventability

properties, and the individual TCB-primitive implementation. Without covering such test

conditions, it would be impossible to claim reasonably that the tests cover specific security checks

in a demonstrable way. Whenever both DTLS and FTLS and security and accountability models

are unavailable or are not required, test conditions should be derived from documented protection

philosophy and resource isolation requirements [13]. It would be impossible to reasonably claim

that the implementation of a specific security check in a TCB primitive is correct without individual

TCB-primitive coverage. In these checks a TCB primitive may deal differently with different

parameters. In normal-mode testing, however, using user-level programs makes it difficult to

guarantee significant coverage of TCB-primitive implementation while eliminating redundant tests

that appear when multiple TCB primitives share the same security checks (a common occurrence

in TCB kernels).

 

The role of coverage analysis in the generation of test plans is discussed in Section 3.5.2, and

illustrated in Sections 3.7.1.3-3.7.3.3.

 

(2) Reduction of Cyclic Test Dependencies. Comprehensive security testing suggests that cyclic

test dependencies be reduced to a minimum or eliminated whenever possible. A cyclic test

dependency exists between a test program for TCB primitive A and TCB primitive B if the test

program for TCB primitive A invokes TCB primitive B, and the test program for TCB primitive B

invokes TCB primitive A. The existence of cyclic test dependencies casts doubts on the level of

assurance obtained by TCB tests. Cyclic test dependencies cause circular arguments and

assumptions about test coverage and, consequently, the interpretation of the test results may be

flawed. For example, the test program for TCB primitive A, which depends on the correct behavior

of TCB primitive B, may not discover flaws in TCB primitive A because such flaws may be masked

by the behavior of B, and vice versa. Thus, both the assumptions (1) that the TCB primitive B works

correctly, which must be made in the test program for TCB primitive A, and (2) that TCB primitive

A works correctly, which must be made in the test program for TCB primitive B, are incorrect. The

elimination of cyclic test dependencies could be obtained only if the TCB is instrumented with

additional code and data structures an impossibility if TCB isolation and noncircumventability are

to be maintained in normal mode of operation.

 

An example of cyclic test dependencies, and of their removal, is provided in Section 3.7.5.

 

(3) Test Environment Independence. To minimize test program and test environment

dependencies the following should be reinitialized for different TCB-primitive tests: user accounts,

user groups, test objects, access privileges, and user security levels. Test environment initialization

may require that the number of different test objects to be created and logins to be executed become

very large. Therefore, in practice, complete TCB testing cannot be carried out manually. Testing

should be automated whenever possible. Security test automation is discussed in Section 3.2.

 

(4) Repeatability of Security Testing. TCB verifiability through security testing requires that the

results of each TCB-primitive test be repeatable. Without test repeatability it would be impossible

to evaluate developers' TCB test suites independently of the TCB developers. Independent TCB

testing may yield different outcomes from those expected if testing is not repeatable. Test

repeatability by evaluation teams requires that test plans and procedures be documented in an

accurate manner.

 

3.2 TEST AUTOMATION

 

The automation of the test procedures is one of the most important practical objectives of security

testing. This objective is important for at least three reasons. First, the procedures for test

environment initialization include a large number of repetitive steps that do not require operator

intervention, and therefore, the manual performance of these steps may introduce avoidable errors

in the test procedures. Second, the test procedures must be carried out repeatedly once for every

system generation (e.g., system build) to ensure that security errors have not been introduced during

system maintenance. Repeated manual performance of the entire test suite may become a time

consuming, error-prone activity. Third, availability of automated test suites enables evaluators to

verify both the quality and extent of a vendor's test suite on an installed system in an expeditious

manner. This significantly reduces the time required to evaluate that vendor's test suite.

 

The automation of most test procedures depends to a certain extent on the nature of the TCB

interface under test. For example, for most TCB-primitive tests that require the same type of login,

file system and directory initialization, it is possible to automate the tests by grouping test procedures

in one or several user-level processes that are initiated by a single test-operator login. However,

some TCB interfaces, such as the login and password change interfaces, must be tested from a user

and administrator terminal. Similarly, the testing of the TCB interface primitives of B2 to Al systems

available to users only through trusted-path invocation requires terminal interaction with the test

operator. Whenever security testing requires terminal interaction, test automation becomes a

challenging objective.

 

Different approaches to test automation are possible. First, test designers may want to separate

test procedures requiring terminal interaction (which are not usually automated), from those that

do not require terminal interaction (which are readily amenable to automation). In this approach,

the minimization of the number of test procedures that require terminal interaction is recommended.

 

Second, when test procedures requiring human-operator interaction cannot be avoided, test

designers may want to connect a workstation to a terminal line and simulate the terminal activity

of a human test operator on the workstation. This enables the complete automation of the test

environment initialization and execution procedures, but not necessarily of the result identification

and analysis procedure. This approach has been used in the testing of the Secure XenixTM  TCB.

The commands issued by the test workstation that simulates the human-operator commands are

illustrated in the appendix of reference [9].

 

Third, the expected outcome of each test should be represented in the same format as that assumed

by the output of the TCB under test and should be placed in files of the workstation simulating a

human test operator. The comparison between the outcome files and the test result files (transferred

to the workstation upon test completion) can be performed using simple tools for file comparisons

available in most current operating systems. The formatting of the outcome files in a way that allows

their direct comparison with the test program output is a complex process. In practice, the order of

the outcomes is determined only at the time the test programs are written, and sometimes only at

execution time. Automated analysis of test results is seldomly done for this reason. To aid analysis

of test results by human operators, the test result outputs can label and time-stamp each test.

Intervention by a human test operator is also necessary in any case of mismatches between obtained

test results and expected outcomes.

 

An approach to automating security testing using Prolog is presented in reference [20].

 

3.3 TESTING APPROACHES

 

All approaches to security functional testing require the following four major steps: (1) the

development of test plans (i.e., test conditions, test data including test outcomes, and test coverage

analysis) and execution for each TCB primitive, (2) the definition of test procedures, (3) the

development of test programs, and (4) the analysis of the test results. These steps are not independent

of each other in all methods. Depending upon how these steps are performed in the context of

security testing, three approaches can be identified: the monolithic (black-box) testing approach,

the functional-synthesis (white-box) testing approach, and a combination of the two approaches

called the gray-box testing approach.

 

In all approaches, the functions to be tested are the security-relevant functions of each TCB

primitive that are visible to the TCB interface. The definition of these security functions is given by:

 

Classes C1 and C2. System documentation defining a system protection philosophy,

mechanisms, and system interface operations (e.g., system calls).

 

Class B1. Informal interpretation of the (informal) security model and the system

documentation.

 

Classes b2 and B3. Descriptive Top-Level Specifications (DTLSs) of the TCB and by

the interpretation of the security model that is supposed to be implemented by the TCB

functions.

 

Class A1. Formal Top-Level Specifications (FTLSs) of the TCB and by the interpretation

of the security model that is supposed to be implemented by the TCB functions.

 

Thus, a definition of the correct security function exists for each TCB primitive of a system

designed for a given security class. In TCB testing, major distinctions between the approaches

discussed in the previous section appear in the areas of test plan generation (i.e., test condition, test

data, and test coverage analysis). Further distinctions appear in the ability to eliminate redundant

TCB-primitive tests without loss of coverage. This is important for TCB testing because a large

number of access checks and access check sequences performed by TCB kernels are shared between

different kernel primitives.

 

3.3.1 Monolithic (Black-Box) Testing

 

The application of the monolithic testing approach to TCBs and to trusted processes is outlined

in reference [2]. The salient features of this approach to TCB testing are the following: (1) the test

condition selection is based on the TCSEC requirements and include discretionary and mandatory

security, object reuse, labeling, accountability, and TCB isolation; (2) the test conditions for each

TCB primitive should be generated from the chosen interpretation of each security function and

primitive as defined above (for each security class). Very seldom is the relationship between the

model interpretation and the generated test conditions, data, and programs shown explicitly (3 and

4]. Without such a relationship, it is difficult to argue coherently that all relevant security features

of the given system are covered.

 

The test data selection must ensure test environment independence for unrelated tests or groups

of tests (e.g., discretionary vs. mandatory tests). Environment independence requires, for example,

that the subjects, objects, and access privileges used in unrelated tests or groups of tests must differ

in all other tests or group of tests.

 

The test coverage analysis, which usually determines the extent of the testing for any TCB

primitive, is used to delimit the number of test sets and programs. In the monolithic approach, the

test data is usually chosen by boundary-value analysis. The test data places the test program directly

above, or below, the extremes of a set of equivalent inputs and outputs. For example, a boundary is

tested in the case of the "read" TCB call to a file by showing that (1) whenever a user has the read

privilege for that file, the read TCB call succeeds; and (2) whenever the read privilege for that file

is revoked, or whenever the file does not exist, the read TCB call fails. Similarly, a boundary is

tested in the case of TCB-call parameter validation by showing that a TCB call with parameters

passed by reference (1) succeeds whenever the reference points to an object in the caller's address

space, and (2) fails whenever the reference points to an object in another address space (e.g., kernel

space or other user spaces).

 

To test an individual boundary condition, all other related boundary conditions must be satisfied.

For example, in the case of the "read" primitive above, the test call must not try to read beyond the

limit of a file since the success/failure of not reading/reading beyond this limit represents a different,

albeit related, boundary condition. The number of individual boundary tests for N related boundary

conditions is of the order 2N (since both successes and failures must be tested for each of the N

conditions). Some examples of boundary-value analysis are provided in [2] for security testing, and

in [5] and [6] for security-unrelated functional testing.

 

The monolithic testing approach has a number of practical advantages. It can always be used by

both implementors and users (evaluators) of TCBs. No specific knowledge of implementation details

is required because there is no requirement to break the TCB (e.g., kernel) isolation or to circumvent

the TCB protection mechanism (to read, modify, or add to TCB code). Consequently, no special

tools for performing monolithic testing are required. This is particularly useful in processor

hardware testing when only descriptions of hardware/firmware implemented instructions, but no

internal hardware/firmware design documents, are available.

 

The disadvantages of the monolithic approach are apparent. First, it is difficult to provide a precise

coverage assessment for a set of TCB-primitive tests, even though the test selection may cover the

entire set of security features of the system. However, no coverage technique other than boundary-

value analysis can be more adequate without TCB code analysis. Second, the elimination of

redundant TCB-primitive tests without loss of coverage is possible only to a limited extent; i.e., in

the case of access-check dependencies (discussed below) among TCB-primitive specifications.

Third, in the context of TCB testing, the monolithic approach cannot cope with the problem of

cyclic dependencies among test programs. Fourth, lack of TC code analysis precludes the possibility

of distinguishing between design and implementation code errors in all but a few special cases.

Also, it precludes the discovery of spurious code within the TCB-a necessary condition for Trojan

Horse analysis.

 

In spite of these disadvantages, monolithic functional testing can be applied successfully to TCB

primitives that implement simple security checks and share few of these checks (i.e., few or no

redundant tests would exist). For example, many trusted processes have these characteristics, and

thus this approach is adequate.

 

3.3.2 Functional-Synthesis (White-Box) Testing

 

Functional-synthesis-based testing requires the test of both functions implemented by each

program (e.g., program of a TCB primitive) as a whole and functions implemented by internal parts

of the program. The internal program parts correspond to the functional ideas used in building the

program. Different forms of testing procedures are used depending upon different kinds of

functional synthesis (e.g., control, algebraic, conditional, and iterative synthesis described in [1]

and [7]). As pointed out in [9], only the control synthesis approach to functional testing is suitable

for security testing.

 

In control synthesis, functions are represented as sequences of other functions. Each function in

a sequence transforms an input state into an output state, which may be the input to another function.

Thus, a control synthesis graph is developed during program development and integration with

nodes representing data states and arcs representing state transition functions. The data states are

defined by the variables used in the program and represent the input to the state transition functions.

The assignment of program functions, procedures, and subroutines to the state transition functions

of the graph is usually left to the individual programmer's judgment. Examples of how the control

synthesis graphs are built during the program development and integration phase are given in [1]

and [7].

 

The suitability of the control synthesis approach to TCB testing becomes apparent when one

identifies the nodes of the control synthesis graph with the access checks within the TCB and the

arcs with data states and outcomes of previous access checks. This representation, which is the dual

of the traditional control synthesis graphs [9], produces a kernel access-check graph (ACG). This

representation is useful because in TCB testing the primary access-check concerns are those of (1)

missing checks within a sequence of required checks, (2) wrong sequences of checks, and (3) faulty

or incomplete access checks. (Many of the security problems identified in the Multics kernel design

project existed because of these broad categories of inadequate access checks [8].) It is more suitable

than the traditional control-synthesis graph because major portions of a TCB, namely the kernel,

have comparatively few distinct access checks (and access-check sequences) and a large number

of object types and access privileges that have the same access-check sequences for different TCB

primitives [9]. (However, this approach is less advantageous in trusted process testing because

trusted processes-unlike kernels-have many different access checks and few shared access

sequences.) These objects cause the same data flow between access check functions and, therefore,

are combined as graph arcs.

 

The above representation of the control synthesis graph has the advantage of allowing the

reduction of the graph to the subset of kernel functions that are relevant to security testing. In

contrast, a traditional graph would include (1) a large number of other functions (and, therefore,

graph arcs), and (2) a large number of data states (and, therefore, graph nodes). This would be both

inadequate and unnecessary. It would be inadequate because the presence of a large number of

security-irrelevant functions (e.g., functions unrelated to security or accountability checks or to

protection mechanisms) would obscure the role of the security-relevant ones, making test coverage

analysis a complex and difficult task. It would be unnecessary because not only could security-

irrelevant functions be eliminated from the graph but also the flows of different object types into

the same access check function could be combined, making most object type-based security tests

unnecessary.

 

Any TCB-primitive program can be synthesized at the time of TCB implementations as a graph

of access-checking functions and data flow arcs. Many of the TCB-primitive programs share both

arcs and nodes of the TCB graph. To build an access-check graph, one must identify all access-

check functions, their inputs and outputs, and their sequencing. A typical input to an access-check

function consists of an object identifier, object type and required access privileges. The output

consists of the input to the next function (as defined above) and, in most cases, the outcome of the

function check. The sequencing information for access-check functions consists of (1) the ordering

of these functions, and (2) the number of arc traversals for each arc. An example of this is the

sequencing of some access check functions that depend on the object types.

 

Test condition selection in the control-synthesis approach can be performed so that all the above

access check concerns are satisfied. For example, test conditions must identify missing discretionary,

mandatory, object reuse, privilege-call, and parameter validation checks (or parts of those checks).

It also must identify access checks that are out of order, and faulty or incomplete checks, such as

being able to truncate a file for which the modify privilege does not exist. The test conditions must

also be based on the security model interpretation to the same extent as that in the monolithic

approach.

 

The test coverage in this approach also refers to the delimitation of the test data and programs

for each TCB primitive. Because many of the access-check functions, and sequences of functions,

are common to many of the kernel primitives (but not necessarily to trusted-process primitives), the

synthesized kernel (TCB) graph is fairly small. Despite this the coverage analysis cannot rely on

individual arc testing for covering the graph. The reason is that arc testing does not force the testing

of access checks that correspond to combinations of arcs and thus it does not force coverage of all

relevant sequences of security tests. Newer test coverage techniques for control synthesis graphs,

such as data-flow testing [9, 10, and 11] provide coverage of arc combinations and thus are more

appropriate than those using individual arc testing.

 

The properties of the functional-synthesis approach to TCB testing appear to be orthogonal to

those of monolithic testing. Consider the disadvantages of functional-synthesis testing. It is not as

readily usable as monolithic testing because of the lack of detailed knowledge of system internals.

Also, it helps remove very few redundant tests whenever few access check sequences are shared

by TCB primitives (as is the case with most trusted-process primitives).

 

Functional-synthesis-based testing, however, has a number of fundamental advantages. First, the

coverage based on knowledge of internal program structure (i.e., code structure of a kernel primitive)

can be more extensive than in the monolithic approach [1 and 7]. A fairly precise assessment of

coverage can be made, and most of the redundant tests can be identified. Second, one can distinguish

between TCB-primitive program failures and TCB-primitive design failures, something nearly

impossible with monolithic testing. Third, this approach can help remove cyclic test dependencies.

By removing all, or a large number of redundant tests, one removes most cyclic test dependencies

(example of Section 3.7.5).

 

TCB code analysis becomes necessary whenever a graph synthesis is done after a TCB is built.

Such analysis helps identify spurious control paths and code within a TCB-a necessary condition

for Trojan Horse discovery. (In such a case, a better term for this approach would be functional-

analysis-based testing.)

 

3.3.3 Gray-Box Testing

 

Two of the principal goals of security testing have been (1) the elimination of redundant tests

through systematic test-condition selection and coverage analysis, and (2) the elimination of cyclic

dependencies between the test programs. Other goals, such as test repeatability, which is also

considered important, can be attained through the same means as those used for the other methods.

 

The elimination of redundant TCB-primitive tests is a worthwhile goal for the obvious reason

that it reduces the amount of testing effort without loss of coverage. This allows one to determine

a smaller nucleus of tests that must be carried out extensively. The overall TCB assurance may

increase due to the judicious distribution of the test effort. The elimination of cyclic dependencies

among the TCB-primitive test programs is also a necessary goal because it helps establish a rigorous

test order without making circular assumptions of the behavior of the TCB primitives. Added

assurance is therefore gained.

 

To achieve the above goals, the gray-box testing approach combines monolithic testing with

functional-synthesis-based testing in the test selection and coverage areas. This combination relies

on the elimination of redundant tests through access-check dependency analysis afforded by

monolithic testing. It also relies on the synthesis of the access-check graph from the TCB code as

suggested by functional-synthesis-based testing (used for further elimination of redundant tests).

The combination of these two testing methods generates a TCB-primitive test order that requires

increasingly fewer test conditions and data without loss of coverage.

 

A significant number of test conditions and associated tests can be eliminated by the use of the

access-check graph of TCB kernels. Recall that each kernel primitive may have a different access-

check graph in principle. In practice, however, substantial parts of the graphs overlap. Consequently,

if one of the graph paths is tested with sufficient coverage for a kernel primitive, then test conditions

generated for a different kernel primitive whose graph overlaps with the first need only include the

access checks specific to the latter kernel primitive. This is true because by the definition of the

access-check graph, the commonality of paths means that the same access checks are performed in

the same sequence, on the same types of objects and privileges, and with the same outcomes (e.g.,

success and failure returns). The specific access checks of a kernel primitive, however, must also

show that the untested subpath(s) that has not been tested, of that kernel primitive, joins the tested

path.

 

(A subset of the access-check and access-graph dependencies for the access, open, read, write,

fcntl, ioctl, opensem, waltsem and slgsem primitives of UnixTM-like kernels are illustrated in

Figures 1 and 2, pages 23 and 24. The use of these dependencies in the development of test plans,

especially in coverage analysis, is illustrated in Sections 3.7.2.3 and 3.7.3.3; namely, in the test

plans for access, open, and read. Note that the arcs shown in Figure 2, page 24 include neither

complete flow-of-control information nor complete sets of object types, access-checks per call, and

call outcome.)

 

 

 

 

 

3.4 RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TCSEC SECURITY TESTING REQUIREMENTS

 

The TCSEC security testing requirements and guidelines (i.e., Part 1 and Section 10 of the TCSEC)

help define different approaches for security testing. They are particularly useful for test condition

generation and test coverage. This section reviews these requirements in light of security testing

approaches defined in Section 3.3.

 

Security Class C1

 

Test Condition Generation

 

"The security mechanisms of the ADP system shall be tested and found to work as claimed

in the system documentation." [TCSEC Part I, Section 2.1]

 

For this class of systems, the test conditions should be generated from the system documentation

which includes the Security Features User's Guide (SFUG), the Trusted Facility Manual (TFM),

the system reference manual describing each TCB primitive, and the design documentation defining

the protection philosophy and its TCB implementation. Both the SFUG and the manual pages, for

example, illustrate how the identification and authentication mechanisms work and whether a

particular TCB primitive contains relevant security and accountability mechanisms. The

Discretionary Access Control (DAC) and the identification and authentication conditions enforced

by each primitive (if any) are used to define the test conditions of the test plans.

 

Test Coverage

 

"Testing shall be done to assure that there are no obvious ways for an unauthorized user

to bypass or otherwise defeat the security protection mechanisms of the TCB." [TCSEC,

Part I, Section 2.1]

 

"The team shall independently design and implement at least five system-specific tests

in an attempt to circumvent the security mechanisms of the system." [TCSEC, Part II,

Section 10]

 

The above TCSEC requirements and guidelines define the scope of security testing for this

security class. Since each TCB primitive may include security-relevant mechanisms, security testing

shall include at least five test conditions for each primitive. Furthermore, because source code

analysis is neither required nor suggested for class C1 systems, monolithic functional testing (i.e.,

a black-box approach) with boundary-value coverage represents an adequate testing approach for

this class. Boundary-value coverage of each test condition requires that at least two calls of each

TCB primitive be made, one for the positive and one for the negative outcome of the condition.

Such coverage may also require more than two calls per condition. Whenever a TCB primitive refers

to multiple types of objects, each condition is repeated for each relevant type of object for both its

positive and negative outcomes. A large number of test calls may be necessary for each TCB

primitive because each test condition may in fact have multiple related conditions which should be

tested independently of each other.

 

Security Class C2

 

Test Condition Generation

 

"Testing shall also include a search for obvious flaws that would allow violation of

resource isolation, or that would permit unauthorized access to the audit and

authentication data." [TCSEC, Part I, Section 2.2]

 

These added requirements refer only to new sources of test conditions, but not to a new testing

approach nor to new coverage methods. The following new sources of test conditions should be

considered:

 

(1) Resource isolation conditions. These test conditions refer to all TCB primitives that

implement specific system resources (e.g., object types or system services). Test

conditions for TCB primitives implementing services may differ from those for TCB

primitives implementing different types of objects. Thus, new conditions may need to be

generated for TCB services. The mere repetition of test conditions defined for other TCB

primitives may not be adequate for some services.

 

(2) Conditions for protection of audit and authentication data. Because both audit and

authentication mechanisms and data are protected by the TCB, the test conditions for the

protection of these mechanisms and their data are similar to those which show that the

TCB protection mechanisms are tamperproof and noncircumventable. For example, these

conditions show that neither privileged TCB primitives nor audit and user authentication

files are accessible to regular users.

 

Test Coverage

 

Although class C1 test coverage already suggests that each test condition be covered for each

type of object, coverage of resource-specific test conditions also requires that each test condition

be covered for each type of service (whenever the test condition is relevant to a service). For example,

the test conditions which show that direct access to a shared printer is denied to a user shall be

repeated for a shared tape drive with appropriate modification of test data (i.e., test environments

set up, test parameters and outcomes-namely, the test plan structure discussed in Section 3.5).

 

Security Class B1

 

Test Condition Generation

 

The objectives of security testing ". . . shall be: to uncover all design and implementation

flaws that would permit a subject external to the TCB to read, change, or delete data

normally denied under the mandatory or discretionary security policy enforced by the

TCB; as well as to ensure that no subject (without authorization to do so) is able to cause

the TCB to enter a state such that it is unable to respond to communications initiated by

other users." [TCSEC, Part I, Section 3.1]

 

The security testing requirements of class B1 are more extensive than those of both classes C1

and C2, both in test condition generation and in coverage analysis. The source of test conditions

referring to users' access to data includes the mandatory and discretionary policies implemented

by the TCB. These policies are defined by an (informal) policy model whose interpretation within

the TCB allows the derivation of test conditions for each TCB primitive. Although not explicitly

stated in the TCSEC, it is generally expected that all relevant test conditions for classes C1 and C2

also would be used for a class B1 system.

 

Test Coverage

 

"All discovered flaws shall be removed or neutralized and the TCB retested to demonstrate

that they have been eliminated and that new flaws have not been introduced." [TCSEC,

Part I, Section 3.1]

 

"The team shall independently design and implement at least fifteen system specific tests

in an attempt to circumvent the security mechanisms of the system." [TCSEC, Part II,

Section 10]

 

Although the coverage analysis is still boundary-value analysis, security testing for class B1

systems suggests that at least fifteen test conditions be generated for each TCB primitive that

contains security-relevant mechanisms to cover both mandatory and discretionary policy. In

practice, however, a substantially higher number of test conditions is generated from interpretations

of the (informal) security model. The removal or the neutralization of found errors and the retesting

of the TCB requires no additional types of coverage analysis.

 

Security Class B2

 

Test Condition Generation

 

"Testing shall demonstrate that the TCB implementation is consistent with the descriptive

top-level specification." [TCSEC, Part I, Section 3.2]

 

The above requirement implies that both the test conditions and coverage analysis of class B2

systems are more extensive than those of class B1. In class B2 systems every access control and

accountability mechanism documented in the DTLS (which must be complete as well as accurate)

represents a source of test conditions. In principle the same types of test conditions would be

generated for class B2 systems as for class B1 systems, because (1) in both classes the test conditions

could be generated from interpretations of the security policy model (informal at B1 and formal at

B2), and (2) in class B2 the DTLS includes precisely the interpretation of the security policy model.

In practice this is not the case however, because security policy models do not model a substantial

number of mechanisms that are, nevertheless, included in the DTLS of class B2 systems. (Recall

that class B1 systems do not require a DTLS of the TCB interface.) The number and type of test

conditions can therefore be substantially higher in a class B2 system than those in a class B1 system

because the DTLS for each TCB primitive may contain additional types of mechanisms, such as

those for trusted facility management.

 

Test Coverage

 

It is not unusual to have a few individual test conditions for at least some of the TCB primitives.

As suggested in the gray-box approach defined in the previous section, repeating these conditions

for many of the TCB primitives to achieve uniform coverage can be both impractical and

unnecessary. Particularly this is true when these primitives refer to the same object types and

services. It is for this reason and because source-code analysis is required in class B2 systems to

satisfy other requirements that the use of the gray-box testing approach is recommended for the

parts of the TCB in which primitives share a substantial portion of their code. Note that the DTLS

of any system does not necessarily provide any test conditions for demonstrating the

tamperproofness and noncircumventability of the TCB. Such conditions should be generated

separately.

 

Security Class 83

 

Test Condition Generation

 

The only difference between classes B2 and B3 requirements of security testing reflects the need

to discover virtually all security policy flaws before the evaluation team conducts its security testing

exercise. Thus, no additional test condition requirements appear for class B3 testing. Note that the

DTLS does not necessarily provide any test conditions for demonstrating the TCB is tamperproof

and noncircumventable as with class B2 systems. Such conditions should be generated separately.

 

Test Coverage

 

"No design flaws and no more than a few correctable implementation flaws may be found

during testing and there shall be reasonable confidence that few remain." [TCSEC, Part

I, Section 3.3]

 

The above requirement suggests that a higher degree of confidence in coverage analysis is required

for class B3 systems than for class B2 systems. It is for this reason that it is recommended the gray-

box testing approach be used extensively for the entire TCB kernel, and data-flow coverage be used

for all independent primitives of the kernel (namely, the gray-box method in Section 3.3 above).

 

Security Class A1

 

The only differences between security testing requirements of classes B3 and A1 are (1) the test

conditions shall be derived from the FTLS, and (2) the coverage analysis should include at least

twenty-five test conditions for each TCB primitive implementing security functions. Neither

requirement suggests that a different testing method than that recommended for class B3 systems

is required.

 

3.5 SECURITY TEST DOCUMENTATION

 

This section discusses the structure of typical test plans, test logs, test programs, test procedures,

and test reports. The description of the test procedures necessary to run the tests and to examine

the test results is also addressed. The documentation structures presented are meant to provide the

system developers with examples of good test documentation.

 

3.5.1 Overview

 

The work plan for system testing should describe how security testing will be conducted and

should contain the following information:

 

·     Test-system configuration for both hardware and software.

 

·     Summary test requirements.

 

·     Procedures for executing test cases.

 

·     Step-by-step procedures for each test case.

 

·     Expected results for each test step.

 

·     Procedures for correcting flaws uncovered during testing.

 

·     Expected audit information generated by each test case (if any).

 

See Section 3.7.7, "Relationship with the TCSEC Requirements."

 

3.5.2 Test Plan

 

Analysis and testing of mechanisms, assurances and/or documentation to support the TCSEC

security testing requirements are accomplished through test plans. The test plans should be

sufficiently complete to cover each identified security mechanism and should be conducted with

sufficient depth to provide reasonable assurance that any bugs not found lie within the acceptable

risk threshold for the class of the system being evaluated. A test plan consists of test conditions,

test data, and coverage analysis.

 

3.5.2.1 Test Conditions

 

A test condition is a statement of a security-relevant constraint that must be satisfied by a TCB

primitive. Test conditions should be derived from the system's DTLS/FTLS, from the interpretation

of the security and accountability models (if any), from TCB isolation and noncircumventability

properties, and from the specifications and implementation of the individual TCB primitive under

test. If neither DTLS/FTLS nor models are required, then test conditions should be derived from

the informal policy statements, protection philosophy and resource isolation requirements.

 

(1) Generation of Model or Policy-Relevant Test Conditions

 

This step suggests that a matrix of TCB primitives and the security model(s) or requirement

components be built. Each entry in the matrix identifies the security relevance of each primitive (if

any) in a security model or requirement area and the relevant test conditions. For example, in the

mandatory access control area of security policy, one should test the proper object labeling by the

TCB, the "compatibility" property of the user created objects, and the TCB implemented

authorization rules for subject access to objects. One should also test that the security-level

relationships are properly maintained by the TCB and that the mandatory access works

independently of, and in conjunction with, the discretionary access control mechanism. In the

discretionary access control area, one may include tests for proper user/group identifier selection,

proper user inclusion/exclusion, selective access distribution/revocation using the access control

list (ACL) mechanism, and access review.

 

Test conditions derived from TCB isolation and noncircumventability properties include

conditions that verify (1) that TCB data structures are inaccessible to user level programs, (2) that

transfer of control to the TCB can take place only at specified entry points, which cannot be bypassed

by user-level programs, (3) that privileged entry points into the TCB cannot be used by user level

programs, and (4) that parameters passed by reference to the TCB are validated.

 

Test conditions derived from accountability policy include conditions that verify that user

identification and authentication mechanisms operate properly. For example, they include

conditions that verify that only sufficiently complex passwords can be chosen by any user, that the

password aging mechanism forces reuse at stated intervals, and so on. Other conditions of

identification and authentication, such as those that verify that the user login level is dominated by

the user's maximum security level, should also be included. Furthermore, conditions that verify

that the user commands included in the trusted path mechanism are unavailable to the user program

interface of the TCB should be used. Accountability test conditions that verify the correct operation

of the audit mechanisms should also be generated and used in security testing.

 

The security relevance of a TCB primitive can only be determined from the security policy,

accountability, and TCB isolation and noncircumventability requirements for classes B1 to A1, or

from protection philosophy and resource isolation requirements for classes C1 and C2. Some TCB

primitives are security irrelevant. For example, TCB primitives that never allow the flow of

information across the boundaries of an accessible object are always security irrelevant and need

not be tested with respect to the security or accountability policies. The limitation of information

flow to user-accessible objects by the TCB primitives implementation, however, needs to be tested

by TCB-primitive-specific tests. A general example of security-irrelevant TCB primitives is

provided by those primitives which merely retrieve the status of user-owned processes at the security

level of the user.

 

(2) Generation of TCB-Primitive-Specific Test Conditions

 

The selection of test conditions used in security testing should be TCB-primitive-specific. This

helps remove redundant test conditions and, at the same time, helps ensure that significant test

coverage is obtained. For example, the analysis of TCB-primitive specifications to determine their

access-check dependencies is required whenever the removal of redundant TCB-primitive tests is

considered important. This analysis can be applied to all testing approaches. The specification of a

TCB primitive A is access-check dependent on the specification of a TCB primitive B if a subset

of the access checks needed in TCB primitive A are performed in TCB primitive B, and if a TCB

call to primitive B always precedes a TCB call to primitive A (i.e., a call to TCB primitive A fails

if the call to TCB primitive B has not been done or has not completed with a successful outcome).

In case of such dependencies, it is sufficient to test TCB primitive B first and then to test only the

access checks of TCB primitive A that are not performed in TCB primitive B. Of course, the

existence of the access-check dependency must be verified through testing.

 

As an example of access-check dependency, consider the fork and the exit primitives of the

Secure XenixTM kernel. The exit primitive always terminates a process and sends a return code to

the parent process. The mandatory access check that needs to be tested in exit is that the child's

process security level equals that of the parent's process. However, the specifications of the exit

primitive are access-check dependent on the specifications of the fork primitive (1) because an exit

call succeeds only after a successfully completed fork call is done by some parent process, and (2)

because the access check, that the child's process level always equals that of the parent's process

level, is already performed during the fork call. In this case, no additional mandatory access test is

needed for exit beyond that performed for fork. Similarly, the sigsem and the waitsem primitives

of some UnixTM based kernels are access-check dependent on the opensem primitive, and no

additional mandatory or discretionary access checks are necessary.

 

However, in the case of the read and the write primitives of UnixTM kernels, the specifications

of which are also access-check dependent on both the mandatory and the discretionary checks of

the open primitive, additional tests are necessary beyond those done for open. In the case of the

read primitive one needs to test that files could only be read if they have been opened for reading,

and that reading beyond the end of a file is impossible after one tests the dependency of read on

the specification of open. Additional tests are also needed for other primitives such as fcntl and

loctl; their specifications are both mandatory and discretionary access-check dependent on the open

primitives for files and devices. Note that in all of the above examples a large number of test

conditions and associated tests are eliminated by using the notion of access check dependency of

specifications because, in general, less test conditions are generated for access check dependency

testing than for the security testing of the primitive itself.

 

The following examples are given in references [3] and [4]: (1) of the generation of such

constraints from security models, (2) of the predicates, variables, and object types used in constraint

definition, and (3) of the use of such constraints in test conditions for processor instructions (rather

than for TCB primitives).

 

See Section 3.7.7, "Relationship with the TCSEC Requirements."

 

3.5.2.2 Test Data

 

"Test data" is defined as the set of specific objects and variables that must be used to demonstrate

that a test condition is satisfied by a TCB primitive. The test data consist of the definition of the

initialization data for the test environment, the test parameters for each TCB primitive, and the

expected test outcomes. Test data generation is as important as test condition generation because it

ensures that test conditions are exercised with appropriate coverage in the test programs, and that

test environment independence is established whenever it is needed.

 

To understand the importance of test data generation consider the following example. Suppose

that all mandatory tests must ensure that the "hierarchy" requirement of the mandatory policy

interpretation must be tested for each TCB primitive. (Expansion on this subject, i.e., the

nondecreasing security level requirement for the directory hierarchy can be found in [12].) What

directory hierarchy should one set up for testing this requirement and at the same time argue that

all possible directory hierarchies are covered for all tests? A simple analysis of this case shows that

there are two different forms of upgraded directory creation that constitute an independent basis

for all directory hierarchies (i.e., all hierarchies can be constructed by the operations used for one

or the other of the two forms, or by combinations of these operations). The first form is illustrated

in Figure 3a representing the case whereby each upgraded directory at a different level is upgraded

from a single lower level (e.g., system low). The second form is illustrated in Figure 3b and

represents the case whereby each directory at a certain level is upgraded from an immediately lower

level. A similar example can be constructed to show that combinations of security level definitions

used for mandatory policy testing cover all security level relationships.

 

Test data for TCB primitives should include several items such as the TCB primitive input data,

TCB primitive return result and success/failure code, object hierarchy definition, security level used

for each process/object, access privileges used, user identifiers, object types, and so on. This

selection needs to be made on a test-by-test basis and on a primitive-by-primitive basis. Whenever

environment independence is required, a different set of data is defined [2]. It is very helpful that

the naming scheme used for each data object helps identify the test that used that item. Different

test environments can be easily identified in this way. Note that the test data selection should ensure

both coverage of model-relevant test conditions and coverage of the individual TCB primitives.

This will be illustrated in an example in the next section.

 

See Section 3.7.7, "Relationship with the TCSEC Requirements."

 

3.5.2.3 Coverage Analysis

 

Test coverage analysis is performed in conjunction with the test selection phase of our approach.

Two classes of coverage analysis should be performed: model- or policy-dependent coverage and

individual TCB primitive coverage.

 

(1) Model- or Policy-Dependent Coverage

 

In this class, one should demonstrate that the selected test conditions and data cover the

interpretation of the security and accountability model and noncircumventability properties in all

areas identified by the matrix mentioned above. This is a comparatively simple task because model

coverage considerations drive the test condition and data selection. This kind of coverage includes

object type, object hierarchy, subject identification, access privilege, subject/object security level,

authorization check coverage, and so on. Model dependent coverage analysis relies, in general, on

boundary-value analysis.

 

(2) Individual TCB-Primitives Coverage

 

This kind of coverage includes boundary value analysis, data flow analysis of individual access-

check graphs of TCB primitives, and coverage of dependencies. The examples of reference [2]

illustrate boundary-value analysis. Other forms of TCB-primitive coverage will be discussed in

Section 3.7 of this guideline. For example, graph coverage analysis represents the determination

that the test conditions and data exercise all the data flows for each TCB-primitive graph. This

includes not only the traversal of all the graph access checks (i.e., nodes) but also of all the graph's

arcs and arc sequences required for each TCB primitive. (The example for access primitive of

UnixTM kernels included in Section 3.7 explains this form of coverage. Data flow coverage is also

presented in [10] and [11] for security-unrelated test examples.)

 

 

 

Coverage analysis is both a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the extent to which the test

shows TCB-primitive compliance with the (1) design documentation, (2) resource isolation, (3)

audit and authentication data protection, (4) security policy and accountability model conditions,

(5) DTLS/FTLS, as well as with those of the TCB isolation and noncircumventability properties.

To achieve significant coverage, all security-relevant conditions derived from a TCB model and

properties and DTLS/FTLS should be covered by a test, and each TCB-primitive test should cover

the implementation of its TCB primitive. For example, each TCB- primitive test should be performed

for all independent object types operated upon by that TCB primitive and should test all independent

security exceptions for each type of object.

 

See Section 3.7.7, "Relationship with the TCSEC Requirements."

 

3.5.3 Test Procedures

 

A key step in any test system is the generation of the test procedures (which are also known as

"test scripts"). The major function of the test procedure is to ensure that an independent test operator

or user is able to carry out the test and to obtain the same results as the test implementor. The

procedure for each test should be explained in sufficient detail to enable repeatable testing. The test

procedure should contain the following items to accomplish this:

 

(1) Environment Initialization Procedure. This procedure defines the login sequences and

parameters, the commands for object and subject cleanup operations at all levels involved in the

test, the choice of object names, the commands and parameters for object creation and initialization

at the required levels, the required order of command execution, the initialization at the required

levels, the initialization of different subject identifiers and access privileges (for the initialized

objects) at all required levels, and the specification of the test program and command names and

parameters used in the current test.

 

(2) Test Execution Procedure. The test procedure includes a description of the test execution from

a terminal including the list of user commands, their input, and the expected terminal, printer, or

file output.

 

(3) Result Identification Procedure. The test procedure should also identify the results file for a

given test, or the criteria the test operator must use to find the results of each individual test in the

test output file. The meaning of the results should also be provided.

 

See Section 3.7.7, "Relationship with the TCSEC Requirements."

 

Note: A system in which testing is fully automated eliminates the need for separate test procedure

documentation. In such cases, the environment initialization procedures and the test execution

procedures should be documented in the test data section of the test plans. Automated test operator

programs include the built-in knowledge otherwise contained in test procedures.

 

3.5.4 Test Programs

 

Another key step of any test system is the generation of the test programs. The test programs for

each TCB primitive consist of the Iogin sequence, password, and requested security level. The

security profile of the test operator and of the possible workstation needs to be defined a priori by

the system security administrators to allow logins and environment initialization at levels required

in the test plan. After login, a test program invokes several trusted processes (e.g., "mkdir," "rmdir,"

in some UnixYM systems) with predetermined parameters in the test plan and procedure to initialize

the test environment. A nucleus of trusted processes, necessary for the environment set up, are tested

independently of a TCB primitive under test whenever possible and are assumed to be correct.

 

After the test environment is initialized, the test program (which may require multiple logins at

different levels) issues multiple invocations to the TCB primitive under test and to other TCB

primitives needed for the current test. The output of each primitive issued by the test programs is

collected in a result file associated with each separate test and analyzed. The analysis of the test

results that are collected in the results file is performed by the test operator. This analysis is a

comparison between the results file and the expected outcome file defined by the test plan prior to

the test run. Whenever the test operator detects a discrepancy between the two files he records a

test error.

 

3.5.5 Test Log

 

A test log should be maintained by each team member during security testing. It is to capture

useful information to be included later in the test report. The test log should contain:

 

·     Information on any noteworthy observations.

 

·     Modifications to the test steps.

 

·     Documentation errors.

 

·     Other useful data recorded during the testing procedure test results.

 

3.5.6 Test Report

 

The test report is to present the results of the security testing in a manner that effectively supports

the conclusions reached from the security testing process and provides a basis for NCSC test team

security testing. The test report should contain:

 

·     Information on the configuration of the tested system.

 

·     A chronology of the security testing effort.

 

·     The results of functional testing including a discussion of each flaw uncovered.

 

·     The results of penetration testing covering the results of successful penetrations.

 

·     Discussion of the corrections that were implemented and of any retesting that was

performed.

 

A sample test report format is provided in Section 3.7.

 

3.6 SECURITY TESTING OF PROCESSORS' HARDWARE/FIRMWARE

PROTECTION MECHANISMS

 

The processors of a computer system include the Central Processing Units (CPU), Input/Output

(I/O) processors, and application-oriented co-processors such as numerical co-processors and

signal-analysis co-processors. These processors may include mechanisms capabilities, access

privileges, processor-status registers, and memory areas representing TCB internal objects such as

process control blocks, descriptor, and page tables. The effects of the processor protection

mechanisms become visible to the system users through the execution of processor instructions and

I/O commands that produce transformations of processor and memory registers. Transformations

produced by every instruction or I/O command are checked by the processors protection

mechanisms and are allowed only if they conform with the specifications defined by the processor

reference manuals for that instruction. For few processors these transformations are specified

formally and for less processors a formal (or informal) model of the protection mechanisms is given

[3 and 4].

 

3.6.1 The Need for Hardware/Firmware Security Testing

 

Protection mechanisms of systems processors provide the basic support for TCB isolation,

noncircumventability, and process address space separation. In general, processor mechanisms for

the isolation of the TCB include those that (1) help separate the TCB address space and privileges

from those of the user, (2) help enforce the transfer of control from the user address space to the

TCB address space at specific entry points, and (3) help verify the validity of the user-level

parameters passed to the TCB during primitive invocation. Processor mechanisms that support TCB

noncircumventability include those that (1) check each object reference against a specific set of

privileges, and (2) ensure that privileged instructions which can circumvent some of the protection

mechanisms are inaccessible to the user. Protection mechanisms that help separate process address

spaces include those using base and relocation registers, paging, segmentation, and combinations

thereof.

 

The primary reason for testing the security function of a system's processors is that flaws in the

design and implementation of processor-supported protection mechanisms become visible at the

user level through the instruction set. This makes the entire system vulnerable because users can

issue carefully constructed sequences of instructions that would compromise TCB and user security.

 

(User visibility of protection flaws in processor designs is particularly difficult to deny. Attempts

to force programmers to use only high-level languages, such as PL1, Pascal, Algol, etc., which

would obscure the processor instruction set, are counterproductive because arbitrary addressing

patterns and instruction sequences still can be constructed through seemingly valid programs (i.e.,

programs that compile correctly). In addition, exclusive reliance on language compilers and on

other subsystems for the purpose of obscuring protection flaws and denying users the ability to

produce arbitrary addressing patterns is unjustifiable. One reason is that compiler verification is a

particularly difficult task; another is that reliance on compilers and on other subsystems implies

reliance on the diverse skills and interests of system programmers. Alternatively, hardware-based

attempts to detect instruction sequence patterns that lead to protection violations would only result

in severe performance degradation.)

 

The additional reason for testing the security function of a system's processor is that, in general,

a system's TCB uses at least some of the processor's mechanisms to implement its security policy.

Flawed protection mechanisms may become unusable by the TCB and, in some cases, the TCB

may not be able to neutralize those flaws (e.g., make them invisible to the user). It should be noted

that the security testing of the processor protection mechanisms is the most basic life-cycle evidence

available in the context of TCSEC evaluations to support the claim that a system's reference notion

is verifiable.

 

3.6.2 Explicit TCSEC Requirements for Hardware Security Testing

 

The TCSEC imposes very few explicit requirements for the security testing of a system's hardware

and firmware protection mechanisms. Few interpretations can be derived from these requirements

as a consequence. Recommendations for processor test plan generation and documentation,

however, will be made in this guideline in addition to explicit TCSEC requirements. These

recommendations are based on analogous TCB testing recommendations made herein.

 

Specific Requirements for Classes C1 and C2

 

The following requirements are included for security classes C1 and C2:

 

"The security mechanisms of the ADP system shall be tested and found to work as claimed

in the system documentation."

 

The security mechanisms of the ADP system clearly include the processor-supported protection

mechanisms that are used by the TCB and those that are visible to the users through the processor's

instruction set. In principle it could be argued that the TCB security testing implicitly tests at least

some processor mechanisms used by the TCB; therefore, no additional hardware testing is required

for these mechanisms. All processor protection mechanisms that are visible to the user through the

instruction set shall be tested separately regardless of their use by a tested TCB. In practice, nearly

all processor protection mechanisms are visible to users through the instruction set. An exception

is provided by some of the I/O processor mechanisms in systems where users cannot execute I/O

commands either directly or indirectly.

 

Specific Requirements for Classes B1 to B3

 

In addition to the above requirements of classes C1 and C2, the TCSEC includes the following

specific hardware security testing guidelines in Section 10 "A Guideline on Security Testing":

 

"The [evaluation] team shall have `hands-on' involvement in an independent run of the

test package used by the system developer to test security-relevant hardware and software.

 

The explicit inclusion of this requirement in the division B (i.e., classes B1 to B3) of the TCSEC

guideline on security testing implies that the scope and coverage of the security-relevant hardware

testing and test documentation should be consistent with those of the TCB security testing for this

division. Thus, the security testing of the processor s protection mechanisms for division B systems

should be more extensive that for division C (i.e., C1 and C2) systems.

 

Specific Requirement for Class A1

 

In addition to the requirements for divisions C and B, the TCSEC includes the following explicit

requirements for hardware and/or firmware testing:

 

"Testing shall demonstrate that the TCB implementation is consistent with the formal

top-level specifications." [Security Testing requirement] and

 

"The DTLS and FTLS shall include those components of the TCB that are implemented

as hardware and/or firmware if their properties are visible at the TCB interface." [Design

Specification and Verification requirement]

 

The above requirements suggest that all processor protection mechanisms that are visible at the

TCB interface should be tested. The scope and coverage of the security-relevant testing and test

documentation should also be consistent with those of TCB security-relevant testing and test

documentation for this division.

 

3.6.3 Hardware Security Testing vs. System Integrity Testing

 

Hardware security testing and system integrity testing differ in at least three fundamental ways.

First, the scope of system integrity testing and that of hardware security testing is different. System

integrity testing refers to the functional testing of the hardware/firmware components of a system

including components that do not necessarily have a specific security function (i.e., do not include

any protection mechanisms). Such components include the memory boards, busses, displays,

adaptors for special devices, etc. Hardware security testing, in contrast, refers to hardware and

firmware components that include protection mechanisms (e.g., CPU's and I/O processors). Failures

of system components that do not include protection mechanisms may also affect system security

just as they would affect reliability and system performance. Failures of components that include

protection mechanisms can affect system security adversely. A direct consequence of the distinction

between the scope of system integrity and hardware security testing is that security testing

requirements vary with the security class of a system, whereas system integrity testing requirements

do not.

 

Second, the time and frequency of system integrity and security testing are different. System

integrity testing is performed periodically at the installation site of the equipment. System security

testing is performed in most cases at component design and integration time. Seldom are hardware

security test suites performed at the installation site.

 

Third, the responsibility for system integrity testing and hardware security testing is different.

System integrity testing is performed by site administrators and vendor customer or field engineers.

Hardware security testing is performed almost exclusively by manufacturers, vendors, and system

evaluators.

 

3.6.4 Goals, Philosophy, and Approaches to Hardware Security Testing

 

Hardware security testing has the same general goals and philosophy as those of general TCB

security testing. Hardware security testing should be performed for processors that operate in normal

mode (as opposed to maintenance or test mode). Special probes, instrumentation, and special

reserved op-codes in the instruction set should be unnecessary. Coverage analysis for each tested

instruction should be included in each test plan. Cyclic test dependencies should be minimized, and

testing should be repeatable and automated whenever possible.

 

In principle, all the approaches to security testing presented in Section 3.3 are applicable to

hardware security testing. In practice, however, all security testing approaches reported to date have

relied on the monolithic testing approach. This is the case because hardware security testing is

performed on an instruction basis (often only descriptions of the hardware/firmware-implemented,

but no internal hardware/firmware design details, are available to the test designers). The generation

of test conditions is, consequently, based on instruction and processor documentation (e.g., on

reference manuals). Models of the processor protection mechanisms and top-level specifications of

each processor instruction are seldom available despite their demonstrable usefulness [3 and 4] and

mandatory use [13, class A1] in security testing. Coverage analysis is restricted in practice to

boundary-value coverage for similar reasons.

 

3.6.5 Test Conditions, Data, and Coverage Analysis for Hardware Security Testing

 

Lack of DTLS and protection-model requirements for processors' hardware/firmware in the

TCSEC between classes C1 and B3 makes the generation of test conditions for processor security

testing a challenging task (i.e.,