SHMemora: Protective Key-Value Store on Distributed Shared Memory

SHMemora is a high-performance and secure in-memory key-value store (IMKVS) built for multi-host systems using CXL-based Distributed Shared Memory (DSM). Unlike traditional IMKVS systems that suffer from high latency and security limitations, SHMemora introduces a lightweight capability-based protection mechanism to achieve strong isolation and fine-grained permissions with minimal overhead.

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Key Features

• CXL Shared Memory: Enables multiple hosts to directly load/store to a common shared memory pool via CXL 2.0/3.0.
• Memory Protection: Enforces memory access through protected paths only.
• Unforgeable Capability Tokens: Memory regions are protected by cryptographically authenticated tokens using HMAC.
• End-to-End Security Proofs and Penetration Tests: Protection model verified both formally and experimentally.

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Project Structure

SHMemora/
├── include/                
│   ├── gshmp.h             # SHMemora shared memory API (token management, read/write, etc.)
│   ├── mhmpk.h             # Intel Memory Protection Keys (MPK) integration
│   ├── stats.h             # Performance monitoring and measurement
│   └── utils.h             # Utility functions and helpers

├── src/                   
│   ├── gshmp.cpp           # Core implementation of SHMemora's shared memory operations
│   ├── gshmp_upr.cpp       # Unprotected version of SHMemora
│   ├── stats.cpp           
│   └── utils.cpp           

├── test/                  
│   ├── kv.cpp              # Benchmark driver for IMKVS operations

Setup & Run

Prerequisites

• Intel GNR / AMD Turin processors
• Compatible CXL 2.0 or 3.0 memory device
• numactl, libdaxctl

Compilation

bash

make

Running benchmark

bash

./build/kv <nthreads> <value_size> <use_batch> <batch_kvs> <use_mac>

Example:

bash

./build/kv 32 256 1 5 0

• nthreads: Number of benchmark threads

• value_size: Size of the KV value in bytes

• use_batch: Enable batched tokens (1 for enabled, 0 for disabled)

• batch_kvs: Number of tokens per batch

• use_mac: Enable token HMAC verification (1 for enabled, 0 for disabled)