Cryptographic Pointer Addressing for Fine-Grained Memory Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current computing techniques require additional memory and performance overheads due to the use of metadata for data protection and isolation, which is not suitable for fine-grained security and is inefficient for workloads like FaaS, leading to vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows and type confusion.
Innovation Solution
Implement cryptographic computing with cryptographic addressing layers that encode metadata into memory addresses and data pointers, using secret keys and ciphers for fine-grained access control, eliminating the need for separate metadata storage and reducing performance impacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metadata is used for data protection and isolation, then security is improved, but memory overhead and performance overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges metadata with memory addresses by encoding protection tags directly into the address structure. Instead of storing metadata separately, the address itself contains the security information, eliminating the need for additional memory to store metadata while maintaining security protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The memory address serves multiple functions: it identifies the memory location and simultaneously carries security metadata for access control. This multi-functional approach allows the address to provide both addressing and security protection without requiring separate metadata storage.
2Reliability
If metadata is used for data protection and isolation, then security is improved, but performance overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
By combining security metadata with the memory address, the system eliminates separate metadata access operations. The security information is already embedded in the address, allowing the processor to verify permissions without additional memory accesses or lookup operations, thus improving performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The memory address itself provides the security information needed for access control, making the address self-sufficient. The address contains all necessary metadata for protection, eliminating the need for external metadata structures or additional verification steps, thereby reducing performance overhead.
3Reliability
If traditional metadata-based protection is used, then data isolation is achieved, but fine-grained security is not suitable for FaaS workloads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies fine-grained security by encoding specific protection tags directly into individual memory addresses rather than using coarse-grained metadata structures. This allows different security policies to be applied to different memory locations based on their specific requirements, making the system adaptable to diverse FaaS workload needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter representation of security information from separate metadata structures to embedded address encoding. This parameter transformation enables more efficient memory operations and better adaptability to serverless computing workloads by reducing overhead and improving access speed.
Data Source
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Figure 3A
AI summary
A processor includes a register to store an encoded pointer to a memory location in memory and the encoded pointer is to include an encrypted portion. The processor further includes circuitry to determine a first data encryption factor based on a first data access instruction, decode the encoded pointer to obtain a memory address of the memory location, use the memory address to access an encrypted first data element, and decrypt the encrypted first data element using a cryptographic algorithm with first inputs to generate a decrypted first data element. The first inputs include the first data encryption factor based on the first data access instruction and a second data encryption factor from the encoded pointer.