Automating Deductive Verification for Weak-Memory Programs

Abstract

Writing correct programs for weak memory models such as the C11 memory model is challenging because of the weak consistency guarantees these models provide. The first program logics for the verification of such programs have recently been proposed, but their usage has been limited thus far to manual proofs. Automating proofs in these logics via first-order solvers is non-trivial, due to features such as higher-order assertions, modalities and rich permission resources. In this paper, we provide the first encoding of a weak memory program logic using existing deductive verification tools. Our work enables, for the first time, the (unbounded) verification of C11 programs at the level of abstraction provided by the program logics; the only necessary user interaction is in the form of specifications written in the program logic. We tackle three recent program logics: Relaxed Separation Logic and two forms of Fenced Separation Logic, and show how these can be encoded using the Viper verification infrastructure. In doing so, we illustrate several novel encoding techniques which could be employed for other logics. Our work is implemented, and has been evaluated on examples from existing papers as well as the Facebook open-source Folly library.