System Objects, Attributes and Constraints of Software Vulnreability

The de nition of software vulnerability includes mismatches between the assumptions
about the environment made during the development and operation of the program,
and the environment in which the program executes. The definitions in this section
refer to these assumptions.

In a computer system, a system object is an entity that contains or receives infor-
mation, that has a unique name, and that has a set of operations that can be carried
out on it. An attribute of an object is a data component of an object. A derived
attribute of another attribute is a data component of the later attribute. A property
of an attribute is a characteristic of the attribute that can be derived from the attribute
by the application of a function to the attribute.

An attribute re nement is a nite re nement of attributes within attributes, and results in
the identification of the attributes about which assumptions are made. The attribute
refinement cannot contain a property of an attribute.