Container Access Control via Global Zone Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional security mechanisms face difficulties in managing access control between containers in a granular fashion, particularly in ensuring that users can only access information or programs at their designated permission or clearance levels and lower, without interfering with higher sensitivity levels or different hierarchies.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a global container to manage access to non-global containers through an access module, which verifies requests based on policy definitions and executes target programs within these containers, ensuring that access is restricted according to defined privileges and labels, using a door mechanism for inter-process communication and I/O redirection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional security mechanisms are used to control access between containers, then access control is implemented at broad permission levels, but granular control over inter-zone communication is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments access control into multiple hierarchical levels: zones, containers, and individual programs. Each level can have its own access policies, allowing granular control where source containers can be granted permission to access specific target programs within designated zones, rather than applying broad permission levels to entire containers or users.
Solution Approach 2:
Access permissions are assigned locally to specific programs and containers rather than uniformly across entire user accounts or containers. The access control mechanism evaluates each access request against zone-specific policies and container-specific permissions, enabling differentiated control for different programs within the same container or user context.
2Reliability
If permission levels are tied to clearance levels, then users can access information at their level and below, but communication between containers in different hierarchies or at higher sensitivity levels is blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds a spatial dimension to access control by introducing zones as a new hierarchical level between users and containers. Zones act as designated areas where containers from different security hierarchies can interact under controlled conditions, allowing communication across traditional security boundaries while maintaining enforcement of access policies.
Solution Approach 2:
Zones serve as intermediary layers that mediate access between containers of different security levels. The access control mechanism evaluates requests through zone-based policies, acting as an intermediary that can permit or deny access based on the specific zone's security context, rather than directly applying user clearance levels to container access.
3Ease of operation
If broad permission levels are used for access control, then implementation is simpler, but granular control over which programs can communicate between containers is not achievable
Solution Approach 1:
The access control system segments permissions to the program level, allowing administrators to specify which source programs can access which target programs within designated zones. This segmentation enables precise control over inter-container communication while maintaining manageable policy structures through zone-based organization.
Solution Approach 2:
Access permissions are assigned locally to specific programs rather than uniformly to entire containers or user accounts. Each program can have its own access rights to target programs in other containers, allowing granular control where only specific programs within a container can communicate with external programs, while others remain isolated.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for executing a target program that includes opening, in response to a request, a door between the source container and the global container, where the source container is controlled by the global container and the request specifies a target program. The method further includes sending the request to an access module located in the global container using the door, verifying that the request can be executed in a target container using a policy definition, where the target program is in the target container and the target container is controlled by the global container, logging in to the target container after the request has been verified, initiating a gateway within the target container in response to the login, setting an execution context of the gateway based on the policy definition, and executing the target program by the gateway, using the execution context, to generate a response to the request.