Keywords

Boot Misconfigurations; Linux Kernel; Boot Repair; LLM Agents

Abstract

The Linux kernel is an actively developed, highly configurable system software that supports a diverse range of platforms. Kernel fuzzers, like Google’s syzkaller, have been embraced to find bugs, but they require bootable configurations that work in their environment. However, these tools rely on a set of configurations that exclude most code changes. Each option controls which code is included when the kernel compiles. Making modifications requires extensive knowledge, as there are over 15,000 interrelated configuration options. While prior work has used formal methods to guarantee configuration validity, this doesn’t guarantee bootability. In this paper, we introduce KBootRepair, an iterative agent-based approach that repairs Linux kernel boot misconfigurations. It combines LLM boot suggestions with klocalizer, a formal reasoning tool, to generate bootable configurations. We evaluated KBootRepair on 50 random x86_64 configurations and achieved a 90% success rate within 20 attempts.

Thesis Completion Year

2026

Thesis Completion Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair

Gazzillo, Paul

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Computer Science

Thesis Discipline

Computer Science

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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