Beyond Linux Kernel Testing: Approaches and Challenges - Shung-Hsi Yu, SUSE & Yunseong Kim, Debian
Beyond Linux Kernel Testing: Approaches and Challenges - Shung-Hsi Yu, SUSE & Yunseong Kim, Debian
The Linux kernel's complexity demands testing methodologies that go beyond traditional approaches. This session explores the kernel testing, starting with a review of traditional methods and their inherent limitations in addressing complex bugs.
We then introduce powerful improvements for proving the presence of bugs, such as property-based testing and advanced fuzzers (e.g., buzzer, Agony), sharing high-level real-world examples.
The session's core focus is the next frontier: proving the absence of bugs. This section dives into advanced formal methods, including Runtime Verification (RV) and the Linux-kernel Memory Model (LKMM). We will also touch on specialized applications like the formal verification of the eBPF verifier (Agni).
Finally, we will present a "big picture" (using a 2x2 matrix) to categorize these diverse testing approaches and conclude with the key challenges and future directions for ensuring kernel reliability and security.