Runtime Environment Segmentation for Root User Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional operating systems lack effective security measures to prevent root-level users from accessing sensitive data, as they have full authority over the system, and existing security techniques can be easily bypassed by such users.
Innovation Solution
Implementing protected environmental controls that require authentication through a trusted user account and biometric information, with rules for accessing data stored in protected memory blocks, ensuring that only authorized program statement numbers can access specific files, thereby restricting access to unauthorized users, including root-level users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If discretionary or mandatory access control security systems are deployed in conventional operating systems, then access control to files and programs is provided, but root level users can still access all data and applications due to having full authority
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the runtime environment into multiple controllable parameters (program statement number, source file, target object, access mode) that must all match authorized values. This segmentation allows the system to control access at a granular level rather than relying on a single access control mechanism that root users can bypass.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the security control approach from static access control lists to dynamic runtime parameter verification. The system monitors and verifies specific runtime parameters (program statement number, source file, target object, access mode) to determine whether to allow or deny access, making it impossible for root users to access protected objects through unauthorized program paths.
2Reliability
If exit programs are added to analyze runtime environment and prevent access, then access control is enhanced, but the security can be easily defeated by root level users who can remove or modify these programs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves security control from the traditional file system dimension to the runtime execution dimension. Instead of controlling access at the file level where root users have authority, the system controls access at the program execution level by verifying runtime parameters, creating a new dimension of security that is independent of user privileges.
Solution Approach 2:
The security system automatically monitors and verifies runtime parameters without requiring manual intervention or configuration by administrators. The system self-regulates access by comparing actual runtime parameters against authorized parameters, making it resistant to manipulation by root users who cannot easily modify the automated verification process.
3Reliability
If mandatory access control security assigns classification to data files, then access control based on clearance levels is provided, but security fails if users without required clearance gain access to user accounts with the required clearance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal security mechanism that works across all user accounts and privilege levels. The runtime parameter verification system applies uniformly to all users regardless of their clearance levels or account types, providing a layer of security that is independent of the traditional clearance-based access control system and cannot be compromised through account theft.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer program products to perform an operation comprising receiving, from an application executing on a system, a request to access a data file, receiving data describing the request, wherein the data describing the request includes data from a runtime stack of the application, wherein the data from the runtime stack includes a program statement number, identifying, in a protected memory block, a first rule for accessing the data file, wherein the first rule specifies a program statement number permitted to access the data file, and upon determining that the program statement number from the runtime stack does not match the program statement number specified in the first rule, restricting access to the data file by the application.