Privilege Level Violation Detection and Control Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current security mechanisms, such as Windows Vista's mandatory integrity control, fail to protect processes from privilege escalation when a higher-privileged process accesses information from a lower-privileged object, allowing malicious activities to occur due to inexperienced operations or software design errors.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that detect and control privilege level violations by monitoring process and object interactions, comparing privilege levels, and interrupting or warning users when a higher-privileged process attempts to access a lower-privileged object to prevent malicious activities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a higher-privileged process is allowed to access lower-privileged objects, then information acquisition capability is improved, but security is worsened due to privilege escalation risks
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by monitoring and detecting privilege level violations before they can lead to security breaches. The privilege level monitoring module continuously tracks access attempts and intervenes preemptively when a higher-privileged process tries to access a lower-privileged object, preventing the violation from occurring in the first place.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the privilege level monitoring module provides continuous feedback about access attempts to the privilege level management module. This feedback loop enables real-time detection and response to privilege violations, allowing the system to adapt its security policies dynamically based on detected access patterns.
2Reliability
If access control is strictly enforced to prevent privilege escalation, then security is improved, but operational flexibility is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The access control system is made dynamic through continuous monitoring and adaptive response. The privilege level monitoring module dynamically tracks the privilege levels of processes and objects, while the management module dynamically adjusts access permissions based on real-time detection of violation attempts, allowing the system to maintain security without rigidly blocking all cross-level access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from privilege level monitoring to dynamically adjust access control decisions. When the monitoring module detects a potential violation, it provides feedback to the management module, which then responds by blocking the specific access attempt while maintaining normal operations for legitimate cross-level access requests.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If privilege level monitoring is continuously performed, then detection capability is improved, but system complexity is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The privilege level monitoring module is designed with multi-functionality, serving multiple purposes: it monitors privilege level violations, tracks access patterns, and provides data for security decision-making. By consolidating these functions into a single module, the system achieves comprehensive detection capability without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the privilege level monitoring function with the existing access control framework, integrating the monitoring module into the current operating system architecture rather than adding it as a separate, standalone system. This integration approach reduces overall system complexity while maintaining strong detection capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are an apparatus and method of detecting and controlling a privilege level violation process. The apparatus monitors whether higher-privileged processes depend on information provided from lower-privileged objects or denies the higher-privileged processes to access the lower-privileged objects. The apparatus is provided in a process, and monitors whether a process accesses to a lower-privileged object. The apparatus gives a warning message or denies an access of the process to the lower-privileged object when it detects that the higher-privileged process access to the lower-privileged object. Therefore, the apparatus of detecting and controlling a privilege level violation process detects weaknesses that may be caused by privilege level violation, thus allowing a system to be safely operated.