PROTECT-DB: Protecting Data using Replicated State Machines: Efficient Corruption Detection & Recovery

2026-05-12

AI Summary

This work addresses the vulnerability of databases to malicious tampering or corruption by introducing, for the first time, a practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) replicated state machine into database systems. Built upon a deterministically extended version of PostgreSQL, the approach leverages a shared log—conceptually akin to a blockchain—to ensure deterministic transaction execution across all replicas. It further enables online detection and repair of corruptions with runtime concurrency support. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method maintains strong data integrity guarantees while achieving competitive performance, thereby confirming its feasibility and practicality in real-world database environments.

Abstract

Data is critical for the operation of any organization and needs to be protected, especially against attacks that compromise the state of the database. In this paper, we explore an approach based on Byzantine-fault tolerant replicated state machines, built on top of a deterministic extension of PostgreSQL. Each replica deterministically executes transactions recorded in a shared log/blockchain. Our focus is on creating a practical system that is designed for efficient and quick detection of corruption, as well as quick repair concurrent with execution of transactions. We also present a performance study showing the efficiency and practicality of our approach. We believe our work lays the foundations for the practical use of the BFT replicated state machine approach in the context of databases.

Problem

• database corruption
• Byzantine fault tolerance
• data integrity
• attack resilience
• state machine replication

Innovation

• Byzantine-fault tolerance
• replicated state machine
• deterministic database
• corruption detection
• concurrent recovery