Secure Interface Control for Memory Page Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cloud computing environments face challenges in ensuring secure data isolation and access control between secure and non-secure entities, particularly in virtualized systems where hypervisors manage memory and storage, leading to potential security breaches.
Innovation Solution
A secure interface control mechanism is implemented to manage access to memory pages by verifying the secure storage protection indicator and ensuring that dynamic address translation mappings remain unchanged, allowing secure entities to access shared pages while preventing unauthorized access by non-secure entities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a hypervisor manages memory and storage in virtualized systems, then resource sharing and virtualization capabilities are improved, but security isolation between secure and non-secure entities deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments memory access rights by introducing secure storage protection indicators that distinguish between secure and non-secure memory pages. The secure interface control separately manages access permissions for secure entities (guest OS) and non-secure entities (hypervisor), creating logical segmentation that maintains security isolation while enabling virtualization.
Solution Approach 2:
The secure interface control acts as an intermediary between the hypervisor and guest OS memory access requests. It verifies secure storage protection indicators and enforces access policies, mediating between the need for hypervisor management and the requirement for secure isolation without requiring changes to existing virtualization infrastructure.
2Reliability
If secure entities require exclusive access to protected storage, then data security is improved, but storage sharing capability with non-secure entities deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The secure storage protection indicator is dynamically adjustable, allowing memory pages to transition between secure and non-secure states. The secure interface control enables flexible access policies where the same storage can be shared with non-secure entities when marked as non-secure, while maintaining exclusive access when marked as secure, adapting to different operational requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Security protection is applied locally at the memory page level rather than globally. Individual pages can have different secure storage protection indicators, allowing selective sharing of specific storage regions while maintaining protection for sensitive data, enabling fine-grained control over storage sharing capabilities.
3Ease of operation
If the hypervisor can modify dynamic address translation mappings, then memory management flexibility is improved, but security control over secure entity access deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The secure interface control preemptively verifies that dynamic address translation mappings remain unchanged before allowing secure entity access to shared pages. This preliminary check prevents the hypervisor from maliciously or accidentally modifying mappings to redirect secure entities to unauthorized memory regions, countering potential security threats before they can execute.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the secure interface control continuously monitors and verifies the state of dynamic address translation mappings. When mappings are modified, the secure interface control detects these changes and can prevent secure entity access until verification is complete, providing ongoing security assurance alongside flexible memory management.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a computer implemented method includes enabling, by a secure interface control of a computer system, a non-secure entity of the computer system to access a page of memory shared between the non-secure entity and a secure domain of the computer system based on the page being marked as non-secure with a secure storage protection indicator of the page being clear. The secure interface control can verify that the secure storage protection indicator of the page is clear prior to allowing the non-secure entity to access the page. The secure interface control can provide a secure entity of the secure domain with access to the page absent a check of the secure storage protection indicator of the page.