Platform App Service Authentication via Publisher Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Platform application services systems lack effective authentication mechanisms, making them vulnerable to attacks such as spoofing, information disclosure, and elevation of privilege, as traditional authentication methods are easily bypassed by malicious applications.
Innovation Solution
An information handling system that includes a server services application which downloads and verifies a list of trusted client application publishers from an identity management system, authenticating client applications based on their publisher names and integrity verification, and processes service requests only from authenticated clients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional authentication methods are used in platform application services, then the system is easier to operate and implement, but the system becomes vulnerable to spoofing attacks, information disclosure, and elevation of privilege
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authentication by verifying the publisher's certificate signature before allowing any application service requests. The server maintains a pre-configured list of trusted publisher certificates and validates incoming requests against this list, ensuring authentication happens before service execution
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces publisher certificates as an intermediary authentication mechanism. Instead of direct application-to-service authentication, the system uses publisher certificates as a trusted intermediary that vouches for the application's identity, creating a chain of trust between applications and services
2Reliability
If publisher-based authentication is implemented, then the system can prevent unauthorized access and spoofing attacks, but the authentication process becomes more complex and requires maintaining lists of trusted publishers
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service authentication where applications automatically include their publisher certificate information with service requests, and the server automatically validates this information against trusted publisher lists without requiring manual intervention or complex configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The publisher certificate mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it authenticates the application identity, prevents spoofing by verifying digital signatures, and enables the system to trust multiple applications from the same verified publisher through a single certificate validation process
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods to secure platform application services between platform client applications and platform services in an information handling system. The information handling system may include a client application that may transmit an application service request over an application services inter-process communication (IPC) channel. The information handling system may also include a server services application that may receive the application service request from the client application via the application services IPC channel. The server services application may query a publisher name of the client application and authenticate the client application based on the publisher name of the client application and a list of trusted client application publishers maintained by the server services application. When the client application is authenticated, the server services application may process the first application service request.