BUGSENG

ECLAIR is a powerful platform for the automatic analysis, verification, testing and transformation of C and C++ programs.

Best-seller Packages

ECLAIR can be instantiated over a whole range of software verification activities, which are provided in the form of packages.

MC3

This combines:

• a state-of-the-art, medium-weight static analyzer suitable for execution on the developer's desktop that almost completely automates the assessment of compliance with respect to MISRA C:2012 Revision 1, BARR-C:2018 and AUTOSAR C:2009;
• a precise and flexible implementation of the source code metrics defined by HIS.

Similar packages exist for MISRA C++:2008 and other coding standards.

ECLAIR Bug Finder

This package includes a very fast static analyzer for C and C++ suitable for execution on the developer's desktop, which is able to detect and report bugs and weaknesses that can lead to crashes, misbehaviors and security vulnerabilities.

Characterized by an extremely high signal-to-noise ratio, ECLAIR Bug Finder identifies security vulnerabilities, dead code, API misuses and other errors in C and C++ source code, including: buffer overflows, dereferences of null pointers, pointer arithmetic errors, use of uninitialized variables, uninitialized or invalid return values, divisions by zero, undefined operations, dead stores, leaks of stack memory addresses, memory leaks, unreachable code, double-free, use-after-free, other dynamic memory allocation issues, lossy implicit conversions, excessive padding (memory waste), vararg functions mistakes, string manipulation errors, library API violations, insecure use of library functions, multithreading issues, dynamic type errors, and other common programming mistakes.

ECLAIR Unique Features

ECLAIR is fit for use in mission and safety-critical software projects: it has been designed from the outset to meet the requirements of most demanding industry standards.
Some of its unique features are described below: they are common to all the packages running under ECLAIR.

Proper Integration with the Toolchain

ECLAIR intercepts every invocation of the toolchain components (compilers, linker, assembler, archive manager) and it automatically extracts and interprets the options that the build system has passed to them. This allows for the seamless integration with any build system. Moreover, you do not need to engage in error-prone activities such as:

• specifying which files make up the application, and where the right header files are located;
• configuring the static analyzer so that the analysis parameters match the options given to the compilers (several options do affect the program semantics)..

All this is automatic and supports any build processes without the need to develop and maintain a separate analysis procedure: with ECLAIR the existing build procedure can be used verbatim. One of the key properties of ECLAIR is that it understands the analysis-relevant options of the supported compilers.

Powerful Reporting Capabilities

ECLAIR can be configured to automatically produce compliance matrices required to meet contractual obligations and industrial standards such as ISO 26262.
The compliance matrix is obtained from the actual configuration, which, if properly done, will contain the reason for each deviation. Thus, carrying its rationale, any deviation goes straight from the configuration to the matrix.

In addition, thanks to ECLAIR's ability to intercept and fully understand the communication with the toolchain, the compliance matrix contains full details about the code and its analysis: which files have been compiled and/or analyzed (with full path and a cryptographic hash of their contents), the compiler/linker options, the full version of ECLAIR, ..., with even a cryptographic hash of the generated executables.. All this allows reliably linking the compliance matrix to the code that is actually run.

ECLAIR HTML reports have no equals on the market in terms of readability and usability: see by yourself.

BUGSENG provides a full range of professional training services on the effective deployment and use of its own products to ensure that Customers are getting the most out of their technology investment..

In addition, BUGSENG delivers both public and customized on-site courses on MISRA coding standards and other topics related to the development of safe and secure embedded systems in C and C++.

The courses are delivered by BUGSENG's highly-qualified instructors and designed so that, after attending a course, attendees are immediately able to implement practices and apply the learned information to everyday work situations.

Effective MISRA C

A course on MISRA C:2012, the latest version of the MISRA C standard, including the new security amendments. Effective MISRA C has been designed for the smooth and successful adoption of MISRA C into an organization: it will significantly strengthen the skills and competences of teams involved in the design, development and verification of critical embedded software systems.

Intended Audience and Teaching Methods

The Effective MISRA C course is meant for software developers, engineers and architects as well as V&V engineers and project managers. The content is geared towards people with a working understanding of the C programming language; however, no previous knowledge of MISRA C is required.
The course, which favors participatory approaches as much as possible, is based on the following methodologies: lectures/presentations, discussions, questions and answers, demonstrations, practical sessions, exercises. An optional final exam can also be provided.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course, participants will:

• understand the C language pitfalls, the compilation process, static analysis techniques and tools;
• understand the origin and nature of MISRA C and its role in the development of safe and secure software;
• understand all important MISRA C guidelines and the unwanted phenomena they are designed to prevent;
• understand the notion of compliance to MISRA C and the permitted deviation procedures;
• appreciate and understand the advantages of the adoption of MISRA C and other best practices.

In addition, they will be able to:

• recognize and avoid dangerous features of the C language by adhering to the MISRA C language subset, thus minimizing rework and extended testing phases;
• analyze the output of static analyzers and recognize MISRA C false positives (and negatives);
• decide on the best remediation for each kind of MISRA C violation;
• work effectively on bringing projects into compliance;
• formulate accurate and defensible compliance matrices.

Contents and Schedule

This two-day course provides a thorough understanding of MISRA C, debunking common misconceptions that are usually the reason for its ineffective and counterproductive adoption. The course begins with a presentation of the safety and security pitfalls that are inherent in C programming; the most common and dangerous programming errors (with a particular emphasis on embedded systems programming) are then explained in detail.
Each MISRA C rule is presented along with its rationale and the role it plays in achieving safety, testability, maintainability and portability. Most importantly, each rule is presented along with a clear explanation of the right corrective measures (those that do increase overall code quality) and with instructions about why, when and how rule deviations might be necessary or advisable. The use of tools for the automatic verification of MISRA C rules is then introduced, with a particular emphasis on their proper configuration and integration with the development environment. The course concludes with the demonstrative analysis of a portion of a real software project: this gives the opportunity to review and practice all the learned concepts and abilities.

BUGSENG provides, among others, services in the following areas:

Consulting

We help our Customers assure the quality of the code created inside and outside of their organization and help them address quality and security requirements and coding standards. In particular, we have strong experience in the application of the MISRA coding standards to new as well as existing projects. BUGSENG engineers regularly conduct software audit reviews and coding standards compliance verification; they also provide support in the definition of refactory plans to gradually bring the source code base into compliance.

Verification of Customer Code

Various solutions are offered to Customers that prefer not to operate ECLAIR in their premises. These include the provision of detailed reports containing, besides the violations, expert advice on the best remediation techniques and, at the end of the process, a professionally-written compliance matrix.

Definition of Internal Coding Standards

Leveraging our extensive knowledge of language and coding standards, assistance is provided to Customers in the definition and improvement of internal coding standards.

Custom Checkers

Development of ECLAIR checkers for the automatic verification of conformance, with respect to rules and criteria defined by and for Customers.

ECLAIR Qualification Kits provide crucial help to safety teams in charge of qualifying the tool following
the prescriptions of functional safety standards. The kits contain documents, test suites, procedures and
automation facilities that can be used by the customer to obtain all the confidence-building evidence that
is required to make a solid argument justifying the use of ECLAIR in safety-related projects.

Highlights

• Direct, explicit support for several functional safety standards: CENELEC EN 50128 (railway), ECSS-Q-ST-80C (space), IEC 61508 (industrial), IEC 62304 (medical), ISO 26262 (automotive), RTCA DO-178C/DO-330 (aerospace).
• Support for MISRA coding standards: MISRA C:2004, MISRA C:2012 (Revision 1), MISRA C++:2008.
• Validated BUGSENG test suites allow for thorough validation of all ECLAIR output formats.
• Validated BUGSENG test suites take into account all relevant implementation-defined aspects of C/C++.
• Support for totally independent validation via the Solid Sands MISRA C:2004 and MISRA C:2012 test suites.
• Built-in antitampering features.
• Users can add their own test cases.
• Users can easily customize the documentation provided.
• Test Automation Unit supplied in source form to allow for inspection.
• Detailed reports allow running any test outside and completely independently from the qualification kit.
• Licensed for single projects or for multiple projects.
• No stress: generous number of hours of consultancy services are included to facilitate the qualification process.

The responsibility for proving that verification tools are qualified, and can be used safely in the context of the specific project, rests entirely on the end user of the tool. You must be able to provide this evidence to the external (third party) authorities that are certifying the safety critical system containing your device.

Qualifying a verification tool, such as ECLAIR, involves producing thousands of validated tests covering each aspect of the used system functionality and lots of quite involved documentation to convince the third party that the tool is behaving in the way it should. And, you must be able to prove that the tool works in your own environment, on your project and with your computer configurations. You must also be able to repeat all tests in your environment, in a way that allows the third party to validate the tests.

Some tool qualification processes can be done entirely by the end user.. But, it takes an enormous amount of resource. We estimate that it could take a functional safety engineer around a year to complete qualification properly, unless they were using ECLAIR and the corresponding ECLAIR Qualification Kit, in which case tool qualification can be completed by a competent team in more like one to four weeks, depending on the functional safety standard and the use cases.