Foundations and Frontiers of Microkernels, Isolation, Memory Safety, and Embedded Security

Foundations and Frontiers of Microkernels, Isolation, Memory Safety, and Embedded Security  

Seminar Material: https://gitlab.lrz.de/aisec-sos-seminars/2026ss/material

Modern computing systems increasingly operate in hostile environments and must handle untrusted inputs that may influence executed code. Traditional monolithic system designs and unsafe programming practices have proven difficult to secure, as vulnerabilities in a single component compromise the entire system.

In this seminar, we will discuss microkernel-based architectures, isolation mechanisms, and memory-safe-by-design systems, all aiming to fundamentally reduce the trusted computing base and limit the impact of software faults and attacks. We center on advances in hardware-supported isolation and memory-safe languages, which have sparked a renewed interest in the research community. At the same time, embedded and cyber-physical systems face unique constraints in performance, real-time behavior, and resource availability, making strong security guarantees challenging.

In this seminar, participants will explore fundamental concepts and recent developments in microkernels, isolation techniques, memory safety, and embedded system security. The focus lies on architectural design choices, implementation techniques, and their security implications. To critically assess these approaches, corresponding attacks, limitations, and trade-offs are to be considered.

Possible topics include:

- Microkernel architectures

- Hardware-assisted and kernel-based isolation

- Concepts of Compartmentalization

- Memory safety in systems programming

- Embedded and real-time system security

- Secure boot, trusted execution, and minimal trusted computing bases

- Attestation mechanisms for systems and software

- Attacks against isolation and memory safety mechanisms

- Concepts and limits of "memory safe" programming languages

This seminar is limited to eight to ten participants. Students are required to express their interest after the introductory meeting; details on the application and selection process will presented during that meeting. By providing a near one-on-one basis, we aim to assist participating students in acquiring a solid understanding of how modern systems attempt to achieve strong security guarantees at the architectural level, and where current research pushes the boundaries of the state-of-the-art.

Contact: -

e-Mail Adresse seminar-2026ss-sos@aisec.fraunhofer.de