shared-secret

Abstract (encapsulated) messages or hidden (semi-deterministic) exceptions using OCaml's module system.

A package inspired by this post: https://existentialtype.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/exceptions-are-shared-secrets/

Installation

If available on OPAM:

$ opam install shared-secret

Otherwise, through this project directory (changes should be committed):

$ opam install .

The library is linked by Dune/Findlib as shared-secret as well.

API for version 0.1

This package actually provides only one module file called Shared_secret. This module contains 2 functors, which are needed for different purposes. They are Message and Exception, parameterized by:

sig type t end

but the Message functor is generative, so it also takes ( ).

The first is to encode and decode existentially typed values. The use becomes obvious when we declare an exception of an existential type. For instance:

module StringMessage = Message (String) ( );;

exception AbstractString of StringMessage.t;;

In the above example, StringMessage will contain 2 submodules with these signatures:

module Encoder : sig
  val encode : String.t -> StringMessage.t
end;;

module Decoder : sig
  val decode : StringMessage.t -> String.t
end;;

So the AbstractString exception can be caught, but not decoded without Decoder.decode:

let open StringMessage in
try raise (AbstractString (Encoder.encode "Hello, OCaml!")) with
| AbstractString msg -> Decoder.decode msg;; (* = "Hello, OCaml!" *)

This encoding/decoding process imposes no additional runtime costs, internally it is just the identity function.

On other hand, the Exception functor is used when we don't like to expose the exception itself, thus is impossible to catch it by explicit binding (pattern matching), it can only be intercepted, but not revealed without the proper handler.

module StringException = Exception (String);;

let unsafe ( ) = StringException.Raiser.raise "Hello, World!";;

try unsafe ( ) with
| _ -> ( );; (* // discards the exception, don't use it on production code *)

let open StringException in
Handler.handle unsafe (fun str -> str);; (* = "Hello, World!" *)

By the above example, we can deduce the following signature of the submodules:

module Raiser : sig
  val raise : String.t -> 'a
end;;

module Handler : sig
  val handle : (unit -> 'a) -> (String.t -> 'a) -> 'a
end;;

API for version 0.2

There is no break of compatibility with the previous API. This current API provides 2 additional modules in the namespace of Shared_secret, called Token and Box. They are inspired on the Sealing Pairs mechanisms of the Object Capability Model. The historical origins of these pairs can be found at Morris73, though.

The Token.t value is an unforgeable and revocable reference. This unique identifier is used by the Box module to seal any 'value as 'value Box.t. Despite the content type being known (different of the module types for version 0.1, this type is parametric rather than abstract), the sealed value can only be known by the proper Token.t which sealed it beforehand.

The following module interfaces can help you how to understand their use:

module type IToken = sig
  type t
  type revoker

  exception AlreadyRevoked
  exception RevokedToken

  val create  : unit -> t * revoker
  val revoke  : revoker -> unit
  val revoked : t -> bool
  val (=)     : t -> t -> bool
end;;

module Token : IToken;;

module type IBox = sig
  type 'value t

  exception InvalidToken

  module Sealer   : sig val seal   : Token.t -> 'value   -> 'value t end;;
  module Unsealer : sig val unseal : Token.t -> 'value t -> 'value   end;;
end;;

module Box : IBox;;

The list below also shows where exceptions may be thrown:

• Token.AlreadyRevoked, prone to occur on Token.revoke if the Token.t was already revoked previously
• Token.RevokedToken, occurs on either Box.Sealer.seal or Box.Unsealer.unseal if Token.revoke was called at least once
• Box.InvalidToken, always raised on Box.Unsealer.unseal if the 'value Box.t was sealed with a different Token.t

API for version 0.3

In this version 2 new things were added. One thing is a module called Pair while the other is a generative functor called Revocable. This current API provides two functions in the Pair module, which are the Exception and Box operations being projected, somehow. Value restriction appears on both functions, though. The first function makes a pair of exception "handlers", the first element is the "raiser" while the second is the respective "catcher". The second function, on the other hand, generates a associated pair of projection and injection for a generic Box type. So, the needed Token value is hidden and shared among these operations. The whole purpose of this module is to provide shortcuts/aliases for other modules. Fair enough of cheap talking, the entire signature of Pair is:

module Pair : sig
  val exceptional : unit -> ('value -> 'failure) * ((unit -> 'result) -> ('value -> 'result) -> 'result)
  val sealing     : unit -> ('a -> 'a Box.t) * ('a Box.t -> 'a)
end;;

The semantics of raised exceptions from the module level counterparts are still preserved and untouched.

'Cause the Token value is hidden on sealing result operations, we need some way to revoke these operations without even touch the token itself. Here comes the generative Revocable functor. Being a generative functor, it will take an ( ) as argument, and so, yield a fresh module. This fresh module revokes generic lambda proxies, while keeping the original lambda expressions intact. That said, this module must be equipped with a revoke operation, once this operation is called, the fresh module itself becomes useless together with its respective generated lambda proxies. On any attempt to use these lambda proxies once the revocation was triggered, an exception RevokedReference (from the fresh module) is raised. When we call revoke again, another exception called AlreadyRevoked (also from the fresh module) is also raised. The signature below describes with some detail this generative functor:

module Revocable : functor ( ) -> sig
  exception RevokedReference
  exception AlreadyRevoked

  val revocable : ('a -> 'b) -> ('a -> 'b)
  val revoke    : unit -> unit
end;;

Contributors

• zapashcanon

References

• [ Morris73 ] Protection in Programming Languages, 1973 - James H. Morris Jr.