RTL-Obliger is presented, a neuro-symbolic framework that infers implicit security obligations of register-transfer-level RTL in a functionality-preserving two-stage generation and raises mean all-pass rates.
Abstract
Large Language Models (LLMs) generate register-transfer-level (RTL) code with rapidly improving functional correctness. Security of LLM-generated code, however, has been studied mainly for software, where flaws can still be patched after deployment. Insecure RTL offers no such remedy once taped out into silicon. We construct SECRTL-GEN, a multi-language resource-access security benchmark grounded in real SoC IP: 392 tasks over five CWE families and four HDLs (Verilog, SystemVerilog, VHDL, and Python), each with black-box functional and security testbenches. Functional specifications intentionally omit security obligations, matching how obligations are often kept out of functional docs in practice. An empirical study of five frontier LLMs shows a sharp gap: under vanilla prompts they pass functional tests in about 73-79% of cases but security tests in only 14-35%, and stronger functional models are not safer. Adding CWE knowledge raises security, while unaided self-thinking helps less and both security-oriented prompts cut functional pass rates, showing that the bottleneck is missing weakness awareness in the specification, not an inability to write defensive RTL. We present RTL-Obliger, a neuro-symbolic framework that infers these implicit obligations. An LLM extracts a functional-semantic graph from the specification; a symbolic engine then matches it against a CWE pattern ontology to surface mitigation-evidence gaps and signal-level obligations; the LLM finally revises RTL under those obligations in a functionality-preserving two-stage generation. Across five models and four languages, RTL-Obliger raises mean all-pass from 49.6-51.4% (SecV/RESCUE) to 61.6%, with higher security and functional rates than these secure-generation baselines.
This paper presents CHARGE, an automated framework for generating security properties for unverified RTL modules using CWEs and large language models (LLMs). The hallmark is a reasoning process that leverages the hierarchical nature of CWE entries to improve accuracy when identifying security-critical assets in unverified RTL modules. As a result, the approach can infer expected security behaviors and generate properties from identified assets and CWE semantics, avoiding the need for trusted design specifications and reducing manual engineering effort. We evaluate the framework on the Hack@DAC18, 19, and 21 open source SoC designs using OpenAI's GPT-4.1. CHARGE detects 27 of 42 known bugs in these designs. For Hack@DAC21 OpenPiton SoC, 89% of the generated SVAs run in Cadence JasperGold FPV, and 92.2% are non-vacuous. We compare to an open-source, manually written set of properties for these designs and find that CHARGE correctly writes properties for three bugs in which the manually written properties were incorrect. In addition, CHARGE-generated properties identify a new bug in the Hack@DAC21 OpenPiton SoC that was not previously identified.
The results show that executable feedback can repair secure-code generation, but its benefits depend on the model, task, feedback entry point, and especially test coverage.
Yunhao Liang, Chengguang Gan, Ruixuan Ying et al.· 0 citations
This work systematically generates syntactic variants of security-relevant code generation prompts and evaluates their impact on code security across multiple open LLMs and programming languages, identifying prompt syntax as a concrete security control surface and providing actionable guidance for reducing vulnerability risk in LLM-assisted development.
Matteo Cicalese, Antonio Della Porta, Stefano Lambiase et al.· 0 citations
An empirical benchmark evaluating whether LLMs and SLMs can generate security-compliant AWS Terraform configurations suggests that prompt design is a critical factor, highlighting the need for a proper pipeline for developing and validating LLM-assisted secure IaC generation.
Francis Luis Santos Vargas, R. Mansilha, Diego Kreutz· Anais do I Simpósio de Infra...· 0 citations
The integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) into Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) introduces a critical vulnerability to indirect Prompt Injection Attacks (PIAs). State-of-the-art coding models, such as Qwen-2.5-Coder, often embed malicious payloads within project configuration rules, resulting in alarmingly high Attack Success Rates (ASR) that compromise local developer environments. To mitigate this threat, this paper proposes IDE-Sanitizer, a preventive, dualmodel defense framework that establishes a zero-trust execution boundary. By combining an HMAC-SHA256 cryptographic state verifier with an air-gapped semantic gate (Llama-3-8B), IDESanitizer decouples intent classification from code generation, preventing attackers from overriding system guardrails. Extensive evaluations across diverse programming frameworks demonstrate that our approach achieves strong robustness, which reduces the ASR to near 0.0% against severe sabotage and exfiltration vectors, while maintaining a near 0.0% False Positive Rate (FPR) on benign workflows. Furthermore, by preemptively blocking malicious payloads before they reach the core generator, IDE-Sanitizer avoids computationally expensive inference loops, reducing average generation latency on adversarial inputs by 89.6%. Ultimately, this architecture offers a secure, efficient, and scalable solution for safeguarding LLM-assisted development cycles.
E. Nkoro, Weixian Liao, Cheng Qian et al.· International Conference on...· 0 citations
Cloud misconfiguration remains a leading cause of security incidents, yet whether LLMs and SLMs can generate security-compliant Infrastructure-as-Code is an open question. We benchmark seven models, three closed LLMs (Claude Opus 4, GPT-5.4, Gemini 2.5 Pro) and four open SLMs (Qwen2.5-Coder-14B, WizardCoder-33B, CodeLlama-13B, Magicoder-S-CL-7B), on AWS Terraform generation across 17 scenarios, integrating Checkov and Trivy scanners into a GitLab CI/CD pipeline and evaluating two prompt strategies at three security levels (pass@5). Syntactic validity and security compliance are largely orthogonal properties in LLM-generated IaC, a model that reliably produces well-formed Terraform does not necessarily produce secure Terraform: WizardCoder-33B achieves 77.8% validate rate yet zero Checkov compliance, while Claude Opus 4 reaches 23.1% Checkov and 92.5% Trivy pass rates under detailed security prompting. Consequently, prompt engineering alone is insufficient: automated multi-tool scanning remains a necessary complement to LLM-assisted IaC generation regardless of model family or prompt strategy. All artifacts are publicly available.
Francis Luis Santos Vargas, R. Mansilha, Diego Kreutz· 0 citations
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