Toward a provably-correct implementation of the JVM bytecode verifier

This paper reports on our ongoing efforts to realize a provably-correct implementation of the Java Virtual Machine bytecode verifier. We take the perspective that bytecode verification is a data flow analysis problem, or more generally, a constraint-solving problem on lattices. We employ SPECWARE, a system available from Kestrel Institute that supports the development of programs from specifications, to formalize the bytecode verifier, and to formally derive an executable program from our specification.