SysTEX '26

Important dates

All deadlines are Anywhere on Earth (AoE = UTC-12h).

Call for Papers

The 9th Workshop on System Software for Trusted Execution (SysTEX) brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss challenges and advances in confidential computing. The workshop focuses on emerging ideas, designs, and implementations for building and securing trustworthy systems based on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). The rapid evolution of hardware support for trusted execution -- including Intel SGX and TDX, ARM TrustZone and CCA, AMD SEV, and confidential devices -- created new opportunities for secure and isolated computation, while raising complex system software challenges. These include cross-layer integration of TEEs throughout the software stack, from operating systems and runtimes to compilers and programming models, as well as mechanisms for composing systems with heterogeneous trust levels. Establishing trust through robust and efficient attestation and integrity verification across distributed and layered systems also remains a central concern. SysTEX provides a venue to exchange ideas, foster collaboration, and advance the state of the art in system software and security for trusted execution.

Topics of interest include:

• Architectures, applications, and infrastructures for TEEs
• Devices, middleware, and cloud support for confidential computing
• Attestation, verification, and cryptographic foundations
• Virtualization, orchestration, and interoperability
• Security, privacy, and usability
• Validation, benchmarking, and performance
• Combining heterogeneous TEEs and trust levels

Format of the workshop

SysTEX is a well-established, mature workshop that has been successfully organized 8 times. The goal of the workshop is to foster collaboration and discussion to encourage and advance innovative TEE security research. SysTEX has a particularly strong track record of attracting submissions from both industry and academia and encouraging intersection and cross-pollination of ideas in the systems and security fields, a natural fit for TEE research.

The workshop will be one full day. The program will primarily include original research presentations by authors of accepted papers (the workshop will have proceedings ACM Digital Library), followed by interactive Q&A with the audience. The workshop may, furthermore, include a relevant keynote speaker.

Submission Guidelines

In line with the call for papers from previous editions, we invite both original research papers, short research statements to encourage discussion at the workshop (as proven successful in last editions), and papers describing high-quality reusable software and hardware tools to aid research in the fast-changing TEE ecosystem (e.g., reverse-engineering and attack frameworks, binary and compiler defenses, open-source enclave processors).

Thus, SysTEX welcomes submissions in three formats:

1. Regular research papers (6 pages, excluding references and well-marked appendices) to describe original work that is not previously published or concurrently submitted elsewhere.
2. Short research statements (1-2 pages, excluding references and well-marked appendices) to encourage discussion and collaboration. Research statements may summarize research published elsewhere or outline new emerging ideas.
3. Tool paper submissions (4 pages, excluding references and well-marked appendices) that describe open-source tools with a (potential for) meaningful impact for security and privacy research on TEEs. These papers will be evaluated based on their potential merit and usability, prioritizing practical value over novelty. Submissions may introduce entirely new tools or present incremental extensions to existing tools.

SUBMISSION TEMPLATE to be provided soon.

Reviewing is double-blind and submissions must be anonymous and in English, taking care to refer to any previous work in the third person. Submissions will be treated confidentially by the PC chairs and the program committee members. Each paper will receive at least three reviews from members of the program committee. Submissions that do not respect the formatting requirement may be rejected without review.

Accepted papers will be published in the workshop proceedings through ACM Digital Library. Authors of accepted short research statement or tool papers may choose to opt-out from being published in the proceedings upon request.

At least one author of each accepted paper is required to attend the workshop and present the paper.

Submissions site: TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

Optional Artifact Evaluation

Recognizing the importance of open science and reproducible artifacts for the security community, authors of accepted papers will be invited to optionally participate in a lightweight artifact evaluation. This initiative aims to add an optional "artifacts evaluated" badge on the website, linking to the corresponding open-source repository. The presence of this badge will not only acknowledge the commitment to open science by the authors but also enhance the visibility of these efforts.

The optional, non-mandotory artifact evaluation will be carried out by a dedicated volunteer artifact evaluation committee. The explicit focus will be on providing constructive feedback and cooperatively improving the quality and reproducibility of any code or data research artifacts.

Further details on the artifact-evaluation process will be communicated to authors upon acceptance and is available in the call for artifacts.

Usage of AI

We expect authors and reviewers to read and follow the ACM Policy on Authorship which dictates that any use of generative AI must be disclosed (e.g., in the acknowledgement section). Reviewers should be aware of the author’s use of AI and flag potential issues of non-disclosure.