Master Thesis: Exploring Hardware-Assisted Type Safety in C++

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About this opportunity:

Ericsson Research Security provides security expertise, architectures, and solutions for platforms, networks, and services. Its work spans areas including cryptography, secure networking, AI security, privacy, and software security. The project is hosted by Ericsson Research in Kista, within an international team working on software security, programming languages, and software reliability.

C++ is widely used in performance-critical software, but its flexibility can make type safety difficult to guarantee. Type confusion, unsafe casts, and object-lifetime errors can lead to undefined behavior, invalid memory access, memory corruption, or control-flow hijacking. These risks are especially important in critical infrastructure, where vulnerabilities may affect essential services.This thesis will investigate how to strengthen protection against type-related vulnerabilities without restricting idiomatic C++ or adding prohibitive runtime overhead. You will examine software-based approaches such as TypeSan, EffectiveSan, and Type++, and assess whether hardware-assisted technologies such as CHERI and MTE can enable more efficient dynamic type enforcement. The goal is to explore a practical approach that addresses complex class hierarchies, inheritance, polymorphism, and dynamic type conversions while maintaining compatibility and performance.

What you will do:

Review and evaluate hardware-assisted technologies for enforcing language-level type safety in C++.Design a practical dynamic type-enforcement scheme for type-confusion risks in complex C++ programs.Build a proof of concept on a hardware-assisted platform.Evaluate security coverage, compatibility with existing software, and performance overhead.

Location:

The project is based at Ericsson Research Security in Kista, Sweden. Remote access may be possible, but candidates should be based in the Stockholm region and available for in-person meetings and hands-on work in the office lab.

The skills you bring:

• Master’s student in Computer Science,Cybersecurity, or a related field.
• Solid understanding of Linux processes and runtime security.
• Systems programming experience, preferably in C and C++; familiarity with assembly is an advantage.
• Curiosity, creativity, and interest in software security research.

Application:

Please submit a brief personal letter and CV. Technical reports or other work you have authored, such as coursework or blog posts, and a GitHub profile are welcome. Describe relevant projects and your specific contributions.

Why join Ericsson? At Ericsson, you´ll have an outstanding opportunity. The chance to use your skills and imagination to push the boundaries of what´s possible. To build solutions never seen before to some of the world’s toughest problems. You´ll be challenged, but you won’t be alone. You´ll be joining a team of diverse innovators, all driven to go beyond the status quo to craft what comes next.

What happens once you apply?Click Here to find all you need to know about what our typical hiring process looks like.Encouraging a diverse and inclusive organization is core to our values at Ericsson, that's why we champion it in everything we do. We truly believe that by collaborating with people with different experiences we drive innovation, which is essential for our future growth. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply and realize their full potential as part of our Ericsson team. Ericsson is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. learn more.

Primary country and city: Sweden (SE) || Stockholm

Req ID: 793608