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Auditable Shared Objects: From Registers to Synchronization Primitives

Authors Hagit Attiya , Antonio Fernández Anta , Alessia Milani , Alexandre Rapetti , Corentin Travers

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ACM Subject Classification
  • Theory of computation → Distributed algorithms
Keywords
  • Auditability
  • Wait-free implementation
  • Synchronization power
  • Distributed objects
  • Shared memory
  • LL/SC
  • Deny List

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Abstract

Auditability allows to track operations performed on a shared object, recording who accessed which information. This gives data owners more control on their data. Initially studied in the context of single-writer registers, this work extends the notion of auditability to other shared objects, and studies their properties.
We start by moving from single-writer to multi-writer registers, and provide an implementation of an auditable n-writer m-reader read / write register, with O(n+m) step complexity. This implementation uses (m+n)-sliding registers, which have consensus number m+n. We show that this consensus number is necessary. The implementation extends naturally to support an auditable load-linked / store-conditional (LL/SC) shared object. LL/SC is a primitive that supports efficient implementation of many shared objects. Finally, we relate auditable registers to other access control objects, by implementing an anti-flickering deny list from auditable registers.

Cite As Get BibTex

Hagit Attiya, Antonio Fernández Anta, Alessia Milani, Alexandre Rapetti, and Corentin Travers. Auditable Shared Objects: From Registers to Synchronization Primitives. In 39th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 356, pp. 8:1-8:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025) https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2025.8

Author Details

Hagit Attiya
  • Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Antonio Fernández Anta
  • IMDEA Software Institute & IMDEA Networks Institute, Madrid, Spain
Alessia Milani
  • Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LIS, Marseille, France
Alexandre Rapetti
  • Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, List, F-91120, Palaiseau, France
Corentin Travers
  • Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LIS, Marseille, France

Funding

  • Attiya, Hagit: Supported by the Israel Science Foundation (22/1425 and 25/1849).
  • Anta, Antonio Fernández: Supported by project PID2022-140560OB-I00 (DRONAC) funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF, EU.
  • Milani, Alessia: Supported in part by ANR project TRUSTINCloudS (ANR-23-PECL-0009).
  • Travers, Corentin: Supported in part by ANR project DUCAT (ANR-20-CE48-0006).

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