Trustworthy Systems

seL4: Operating systems with the reliability of mathematics

Authors

Gernot Heiser

    School of Computer Science and Engineering
    UNSW,
    Sydney 2052, Australia

Abstract

The seL4 microkernel was the first operating-system kernel with a machine-checked proof of implementation correctness&Mdash;bug-free in a strong sense (subject to assumptions). The breadth and depth of its formal verification is still unrivalled, making it the most solid foundation for reliable computing systems, and resulting in deployment in security- and safety-critical systems. This article explains seL4's formal verification and the benefits this provides for systems built on top of seL4. It also discusses practical challenges to using seL4 and what is being done to address them.

BibTeX Entry

  @article{Heiser_26,
    author           = {Gernot Heiser},
    doi              = {10.1109/MRL.2026.3680074},
    journal          = {IEEE Reliability Magazine},
    month            = xyz,
    note             = {To appear},
    number           = {xyz},
    pages            = {xyz},
    title            = {{seL4}: {O}perating Systems With the Reliability of Mathematics},
    volume           = {xyz},
    year             = {2026}
  }