Authenticated Home Directory Mounting via Temporary Bind
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for securely accessing a user's home directory on remote machines are insecure, particularly in environments like Kerberos, where administrator access is limited, and often result in central access points that can be breached, leading to network vulnerabilities and stability issues with FUSE daemons.
Innovation Solution
A system that automatically binds a temporary directory on a local file system, prompting users for credentials and securely mounting a non-native home directory from a remote location using autofs and sshfs, with scripts to manage permissions and unmount directories when not in use, reducing the risk of breaches and daemon instability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If NFS protocol is used to share disks between machines, then data accessibility is improved, but security is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an authentication server as an intermediary between the NFS client and the home directory data. The authentication server validates user credentials and provides authenticated access to home directories, acting as a security mediator that allows NFS mounting while preventing unauthorized access. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining data accessibility through NFS while adding a security layer that NFS alone cannot provide.
2Reliability
If sshfs is used to mount home directory, then security is improved, but system stability is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the FUSE daemon component that causes instability and replaces it with a kernel-level NFS client. By removing the unstable userspace FUSE layer and using only the kernel NFS client with authentication server integration, the system maintains the security benefits of authenticated access while eliminating the stability issues associated with FUSE daemons freezing and requiring manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses temporary, session-based authentication tokens that are created when needed for mounting and automatically invalidated when the user logs out. These short-lived authentication credentials replace the need for persistent FUSE daemons, providing security without the long-running process instability. The authentication server can issue new tokens as needed without requiring stable, long-lived daemon processes.
3Ease of operation
If auto sshfs mount is implemented, then ease of operation is improved, but network vulnerability is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication server serves as a security intermediary that enables automatic mounting while preventing network vulnerabilities. It authenticates users before providing access credentials, ensuring that only authorized users can automatically mount their home directories. This mediator prevents unauthorized automatic mounting attempts from compromising the network, while still providing the convenience of automatic mounting for legitimate users.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the authentication parameter from requiring persistent SSH keys or manual credentials to using temporary, session-based tokens issued by the authentication server. This parameter change allows automatic mounting to work seamlessly (improving ease of operation) while the token-based approach limits the window of vulnerability and prevents credential theft from compromising the entire network (reducing network vulnerability).
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for home directory management are described. In one embodiment, a computing system receives a user login request, and in response, bind mounts a temporary directory on a local file system of the computing system. The temporary directory does not require authentication. The computing system prompts the user for user credentials and authenticate the user using the user credentials. In response to a successful authentication, the computing system mounts a non-native directory in the temporary directory.